


The Forgotten

by Greywintergem



Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Mark Fischbach - Freeform, Mutation, Other, Sean McLoughlin - Freeform, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-02
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-08-12 12:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 32,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7935373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greywintergem/pseuds/Greywintergem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do not fear. Do not wait. Do not hear. Do not be late. Do not listen. Do not speak. Do not glisten. Do not leak. Do not follow. Do not fret. Do not swallow. Do not forget."  -Unknown Speaker</p>
<p>I made him promise not to forget me. I made him promise to not let me go. I was fine with him letting me go now. But I don't think I could've handled being forgotten. Mostly because I wanted to make my mark on the world. To have my life mean something. So if he forgets then I must come back. I fear that if I don't my life would've been for nothing. And that all the time and energy I had put in each day would be for nothing. I'm afraid to fail. And the biggest failure of all is to be forgotten once you're gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Green Beacon

Flashes of red and sirens echoed through the pale corridors. I can't remember why the alarms were going off. It probably had something to do with the engine room filling with its own toxic waste again. Stupid new upgrades making my job more difficult then it needed to be. 

"Hang on, Ty. I got it. Just go back to your station." I heard his voice behind me. He knows this is something I have to do. 

"No, Jack. I have to do this in order to get paid. You should know how hard it is to get paid a decent amount these days. Plus I know much more about this then you do. I seriously do not want anyone getting hurt today because I didn't do my job. Especially you because of the whole internet thing you have going on." I could tell he wanted to help. But I shouldn't need him yet. There's just a few nobs I need to turn in order to flush the waste out. The only problem is getting to them. 

"Please, Ty. I want to help. You deserve a break after all the hours you've put in this week." Damnit. There he goes again. I stopped walking forward and turned around to face him. I quickly motioned for him to come. After all, it's not like I'm gonna be putting him in any kind of danger. "Thank you!" 

"Please, you don't have to yell. I just need to flush out the toxic waste before it overflows." He nodded. "So if you wouldn't mind, could you control the fluid levels by holding the blue nob towards the left while keeping the red nob in sync with the toxicity meter above it? That'll make it so that I won't get infected or sick while I adjust the tubing below. Or unblock whatever is blocking it." 

"Uh. Yeah. I can do that. Shouldn't you put on a gas mask or something just to be safe, Ty?" I thought about it for a moment. 

"Yeah. Good call." I slowly took off my white lab coat and placed one of the conveniently placed gas masks over my already sweating face as he began the task I gave him. "Alright. I'll see you in a few seconds." I saluted my brown haired friend then opened the hatch in the so called office. The control panel was on the other side of the metal bridge that went over the pool of toxic chemicals. 

Jack began pounding on the glass window to get my attention. I looked back around confused and frustrated. He began shouting. 

"WHAT?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" I yelled at him. I just turned around to continue my job. Then before I could even think about what I needed to do, the entire bridge began to shake and crumble. The toxic chemicals were rising in the pool below. This room was going to overflow no matter what I did. A sense of panic and fear rose in my throat as two arms grabbed my shoulders and pulled me away from the side. "JACK?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DO-" I didn't get to finish as the bridge suddenly collapsed under our weight. I was flung to safety while Jack fell off towards the edge of the pool. I quickly jumped over fast enough to grab ahold of his hands. 

"Ty, don't let go." He whispered almost inaudibly. 

"JACK! Hold on!" I screamed while trying to keep his skinny hands locked in mine. "JACK!" My grip was giving out. I struggled once again to try and keep him from falling. 

I looked down at him once again with beads of sweat from the exhaustion of keeping both myself and him from harms reach. A tear escapes my eye as I gaze at his scared expression. His hair blew with the wind that seemed to be coming from nowhere. His bright blue eyes that always were filled with love and happiness now shown with darkness and fear. 

"JAAAAACK!" I cried out once more. Before my grip completely depreciated. His grip on my hands suddenly grew tight around my fingers as if to try and get my attention. It did. I opened my eyes not noticing that I had closed them at all. 

"D- Don't forget... about m-me." A single tear rolled down his pale cheek. My eyes grew wide as I realized what he was about to do. "Ty! LOOK AT ME! DON'T YOU DARE FORGEEEEEEE..." he let go. I tried to grab at his fingers before they disappeared forever. When I felt them slip from my own, shock rocked my body. My eyes grew wide.

I scrambled to my feet to look out over the edge. I watched as he fell. His arms trying desperately to catch onto something solid so that he wouldn't fall to his death. I took in a quick breath and screamed one last time "JAAAAAAAAAAAACK!" His body seemed to slow a bit as memories of all the times I'd watched him growing up. All the times I spent with him. That wonderful man didn't deserve this. I closed my eyes as they welled up with tears once again. 

I stared down in horror at his flailing body as it hit the pool of glowing death. As I'm sitting there mourning the loss of a friend, the platform I'm currently on is shaking and about to crumble. I stumble a bit trying to gain my balance when I finally reach the door to the office. The nobs I had told Jack to keep steady and in sync were burnt and covered in a rusted colour. I tore off my mask when everything around me suddenly jumped in the air as a burst of green light shot through the open chamber outside the office. 

My eyes widened at the sight. The self sustaining engine must've blown up. This is going to cost me my job. Not that I minded anymore. There was no reason for me to come anymore now that I got a friend killed. Not just my friend though. He was loved by millions and I'm one of them. I never thought the day would come when I hear the four words I would dread the most. And now that that day is here, I'm in charge of spreading the message that he was trying to spread because Sean McLouglin is dead. 

I promised him I wouldn't forget about him. I intend on keeping that promise whether the world likes it or not.


	2. Across the Fault

The hardest thing I have ever had to do was stand in front of the church at his funeral to explain to a bunch of people I didn't even know, how I felt towards Jack. The part that started to make me cry was when I looked out into the sea of unknown faces and realized I was the only one who hadn't broken down into tears. Even the crowd of kids and teens outside were crying and holding plushies and posters that represent the man I failed to save. Above all, I saw Mark and Felix sitting next to his family trying to stop their own tears from flowing. 

Another thing I hated was that we had to bury an empty casket. His body wasn't found and even if it had been, there was no way we could've restored his natural features and complexion due to the radioactive waste that that fucking engine needed in order to keep itself working. All his family and friends were viewing an empty casket because of me. The guilt alone was enough for me to not even dare look at the photos of him smiling and laughing that stood neatly next to the array of professionally placed flowers. 

I heard his father and brother whisper amongst themselves about how they should've never allowed him to visit me on that godforsaken day. How they never should've brought up how much he must've missed me when he went to visit them. How they never should've introduced us all those years ago. My heart strangled my throat making it hard to breathe. It was as if a dam broke right there in the middle of the mass. I sobbed as softly as I could as to not make so much noise. I didn't want to disrupt the priest or the music with my internal battle cry. 

Mark must've noticed how uncomfortable I was because he lightly touched my shoulder and asked me to follow him to the back. I wiped away my tears from my now pink and puffy eyes. Thank god I was towards the end of the aisle as to not have to push past too many people. However, Mark had some difficulty getting to the center, so I took my time for as long as I could without breaking down right there. 

Mark put his hand on my shoulder while pushing me to the back where I could let all hell break out. He closed the door behind us and then looked at me with shattered eyes. 

"I heard his brother and father talking about how they shouldn't of allo-"

I interrupted him since I knew what he was going to say. My voice cracked slightly as I spoke. "Allowed him to visit me again. I know." I turned my back on him and covered my mouth as a loud sob escaped my throat. 

"Hey hey hey... It's not your fault. You couldn't have known he was going to risk his life. They couldn't have either. It's not your fault, Tyson." I shook my head and continued to cry at the wall. Mark came up behind me and placed his arm on my shoulder once more before practically strangling me in a hug. I cried into his suit jacket while he cried into mine. "He wouldn't want us to cry. He'd want us to re-remember him for what he'd done during his time here." 

"Your right. But I can't hel-help but cry. We just lost one of the best people on this earth. Mark, I wish he didn't visit me that day. I wish I'd told him to let me fucking do my job so that he wouldn't get hurt. Like I'd told him no-not to." He rubbed my back trying to soothe the aching in my heart. "I want him back." I whispered. 

"I think it's safe to say that we-we'd all love if he was still alive." We must've stood there hugging and crying for the rest of mass because before we knew what was going on, Sean's mother walked through the door in front of the rest of her family and the empty casket. 

Mark and I broke away and stared at the wet splotches we'd left on eachother's suit jackets. I'd accidentally drooled a bit on his. I hope he doesn't mind. He gave a weak smile before sniffing his nose and clearing his throat. He motioned for me to follow him again as the rest of the people from the mass flooded out the door. Including several people who had worked with Jack online. Many of them I recognized after so many endless hours of watching their videos with Jack during our guys nights. We slowly started having less and less the more he drifted further into his job. Which never bothered me since he loved doing it so much. 

I nearly had a heart-attack when I saw the river of people outside the church. They were all holding candles, plushies and posters that were all in memory of their hero and entertainer. The sight brought another waterfall of glistening tears to fall again. I'd never cried so hard in my life. 

•~•~•~•~•

I couldn't even eat anything at the lunch they were serving in his honour. I felt sick to my stomach thinking about eating the food that was donated. It didn't seem right to enjoy something in his honour. 

At some point during a conversation at the table I was sitting at, Mark had came over and asked me if I would like to join him over at his table. I didn't say no mostly because I didn't know anyone sitting where I was. Although I'd never met Mark before today, I feel he may be being a bit too nice to me. I don't deserve his kindness. Or any form of kindness from the people that were at this lunch. 

"How're you holding up?" He asked. 

I looked up at him and replied with a shrug. "I can't say that I'm in any better shape then I was at the church. By the way I never thanked you for comforting me." He smiled a small bit before nodding his head as if to say 'you're welcome'. 

"Um... so. Uh. How long have you known Jack?" He obviously just wants to talk. There's no need to be on edge right now. 

I relaxed my shoulders and took a deep breath through my nose. "I've known Jack since his first year in primary school."


	3. Footprints

"Hey, Ty? Do you maybe want to talk some more over coffee? I won't be here in Ireland for much longer and I'd like to help you through this as much as I can." Mark stared with pity towards me with those warm coloured eyes. I shrugged my shoulders and leaned back in my chair and turned my head to the side to get a glimpse of the weather outside. 

It was sunny and nice. Not what you'd expect it to be like on the same day of a funeral. Especially in Ireland for that.  

"Mark, are you sure you want to go to coffee instead of letting me invite you over for tea or whatever while you're still here?" This caught him by surprise. I wanted to be friendly. Not just be another broken man that he feels he has the responsibility to fix. I know from what Jack had told me about him that he sometimes tries to fix things that are broken. Especially when they're people. 

"So that's a yes? But not for coffee?" I looked back over at him and ran my hand through my hair that was trying to cover my face. 

"I don't drink that much coffee. I'm more of a water and tea drinker to be honest with you, Mark. I know it may be weird since you're used to Jack always being jacked up on caffeine because he can't get enough coffee. I'm known for being more 'chill' for lack of a better word." He nodded and slowly turned his head down. I leaned in closer to the table and picked up a plate that was set out in front of me. This place is way too fancy for my taste. 

The table that was full of food had many of Jack's favourite dishes including a home made pizza and sushi. I will never understood how he was so damn skinny after eating nothing but junk food and take out. I slunk over to the dessert table and picked up a few cookies. They were iced with green frosting. Why green frosting of all the other colours? I know for a fact that his favourite colour was red. Or was this just something to do with his internet thing? I wouldn't doubt it. 

"Ty!" Mark called me over. I struggled through the crowd to get to his table. "Ty!"

"Yeah, what is it, you big fuck!" Shit. I shouldn't have cursed at him like that. 

"I never would've guessed he got that from you." 

"What are you talking about, Mark?" 

"Jack used to say that all the time. Well whenever he and I were hanging out." I sighed and looked down at my plate of cookies. They didn't seem as appetizing as they were when they were sitting up there on the table. "But yeah. Anyway. I just wanted you to meet a few of my friends in America." 

"Ahh well, introduce us then. Can never meet enough Americans in these parts." I mumbled that last part in fear of offending someone. 

"This is Wade and that's Bob. I think Ken is here too if I'm not mistaken." I nodded and placed my plate on the table they were sitting at. I didn't want to talk to anyone for a while. To be honest, I wasn't even sure I wanted to see or talk to Mark. 

~•~•~•~•~

I slammed my car door shut behind me. My fists were clamped tightly shut while I held my suit jacket swung over my shoulder. That funeral was horrible. 

I fumbled with my keys to my house. The damned things looked the same when my eyes were blurred with tears. I felt over one that felt right and slipped it into the lock with a twist. The door clicked just before I burst through and shut it behind me. I threw my jacket over onto the couch by the front door. Then I pulled at the tie around my neck to pull it off and do the same with it. 

I kicked off my shoes not caring if they were crooked or in the right spot next to the door. My mind was blank because I had nothing to think about other than how I could've saved my friend from falling to his death. I didn't want to think about that. 

I swayed sadly into my kitchen and opened the fridge to find it almost empty besides a few leftover containers of spaghetti and meat loaf. What the hell happened to the milk and eggs I'd just bought? And the thing of green peppers? What the hell. 

I whipped my head towards the television room as I heard a shuffle. It's probably my neighbor's cat, Clovis sneaking in here again since I feed him unlike my neighbor. 

"Come here, Clovis." I said in a high pitched voice. What I got in response wasn't something I would've thought a cat such as Clovis could possible make. No, what I heard was something deeper and more menacing. 

My heart froze in my throat. I couldn't even tell if I was breathing steadily anymore thanks to whatever the hell this animal was. It couldn't be a wolf or wild dog since they aren't usually around here. They're more of an American thing. But damn me if it doesn't sound like one. It's probably a dog from one of my neighbors. 

I quietly tip toed my way into the television room when I spotted these glowing human footprints on my carpet that definitely weren't there when I walked in. Then just like that, they vanished. 

Wait, no they vanished and then reappeared. Over and over again. I watched with caution. Whatever made these footprints could still be around. I didn't intend on being caught by a glowing... thing. At least not tonight.


	4. Damn Roxanne

I rounded the corner to come face to face with my roommate. Or rather housemate. She wasn't supposed to be here this week. 

"Oh, uh. Roxanne, what happened to your job?" She glanced up my way with a sad look. 

"I got kicked out, yah bitch. Those imbeciles don't know how to operate the damn machinery without my experience. Yet I'm the one to get cut. Just my fucking luck. I swear they must be stupid or fucking ignorant." I stood there shifting on my feet waiting for her to remember what I could tell she was trying to remember. 

"Anything else?" 

"OH! Yeah. I may have tracked some of the glowing plaint for the machinery in here by accident. Sorry, yeh bitch. Ima go cleanse myself of the stench of those fucktards before I settle in, okay?" I nodded and watched as she climbed the creaky stairs. Being the gentleman I am, I took her bags up to her room. And because I needed something at the moment to distract myself. "HEY, TY! ARE YOU OKAY?! I NOTICED YOU WEREN'T EXACTLY TALKATIVE!" 

"Um... YEAH! I JUST WENT TO A FUNERAL. THATS ALL!" 

"WHOES WAS IT?!" 

"SEAN MCLAUGHLIN'S!" I heard something drop and shatter. I assume it was her coffee mug that she had brought up there. She practically tripped trying to get into the hallway. 

"Please tell me you're joking. Please tell me that It was just a weird coincidence that he wasn't uploaded anything in the past few days." I shook my head and felt my eyes burn with salty tears again. "No. Oh my god. NO! H-he can't be dead! Ty! That's not funny!" I looked down at my feet and waiting for her to realize what happened. "I-I can't believe... oh my god." She burst into tears right then and there. I ran up beside her and hugged her for comfort. I wasn't sure if she needed it. I knew that I did. 

I stayed silent for a good few moments as she sobbed and cried uncontrollably into my shoulder. 

After calming down a bit, she asked "How'd he die?" I closed my eyes and leant my head back against the wall, not prepared for another scream fest on how I'd let him die. 

"An engine failure at the lab caused it's self sustaining toxic waste provider to explode and overflow. I went to go fluctuate the secondary pipes and flush out the excess waste. But something went wrong and Jack was there helping me. He went out onto the bridge to warn me until it collapsed. H-... he pushed me out of the way while he instead... fell off the bridge. I grabbed his hands in mine but I didn't have enough strength to hold us both above the pool. He let go in order to give me a chance to get away and warn everyone to get out of there. I watched as he fell trying to grab onto... SOMETHING. SOMETHING THAT COULD JUST..." I broke down. The fucking damn broke. Now she sat silently. Watching as I wallowed in my own sadness. 

"It wasn't your fault, Ty. You couldn't have known he was going to do what he did. It's not your fault. Also, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU EVEN LET HIM NEAR BUTTONS?! YOU KNOW HE LOVES TO PUSH THE SHIT OUTTA THEM! Yeh stupid fucking bitch." 

"Uh. I uhh..." 

"No no. Not a word." I shut my mouth. She sniffed and stood up, brushing off her jeans before sauntering off into the bathroom. I just sat there with a sigh, not moving in fear of breaking the soothing silence. Then she started to run the water. 

~•~•~•~•~

I received a letter in the mail. It was addressed to myself and it was from the insurance agency that Jack used. I only know this because I asked him about what kind of insurance I should get. Or course he recommended his own. 

My scissors were in the upstairs studio where I recorded music. Mostly for myself. 

The letter read...

Dear Tyson G. Penlough, 

Sean William McLaughlin's death was a tragedy for us and many of the people you know. We saw in his will that he left a majority of his money in your name and the rest in children that he didn't have. This letter will hopefully reach you as soon as possible so that you can arrange a visit with us to put the money he left you into your account. The email you can use to contact us is in the envelope o a separate sheet of paper. Thanks for your understanding. 

Sorry for your loss,   
Peyton Judance  
Executive Peyton D. Judance

What the fuck, Jack? I don't deserve this at all. Why did you... oh my god. What the fuck. 

I set the letter on the desk in the corner of the small recording room. I sat down in the swivel chair contemplating on if I should even accept his money. I sure as hell don't deserve it and I don't know what I'd do with it all. 

I sighed and leaned back with my arms behind my head cradling it. My eyes closed because it was exhausting to be sad all day long. 

"Hey, yeh bitch?" I gasped and fell out of my chair. "Oh my god! HahahahaHAHA!" I ended up tangling my legs even further with the chair in attempting to escape from them. 

"What the fuck, Rox?! Do you ever knock?" She stood in the doorway clutching her stomach and then as if someone blew the happiness off her face, it was gone. No smile. No nothing. Just a blank stare. "What do you want?" 

"Never mind. I got it." Jesus. What's with her? I didn't think that Jack's death would affect her this much. Unless she... shit. 

"Hey, Rox?!" I called after her.

"Yeah?" 

"Did you um... like... like Jack?" Her face flushed bright pink and her eyes welled up with tears again. "Wait wait wait, Rox. I just wanted to know." 

"You fucking bitch... You really are clever. I'll give you that. But please don't talk about it. I'm already suffering enough as it is, Ty. I don't need yet another thing to make me feel sorry for myself." 

"Oh. Well. I guess I should head to bed then." I walked as fast as I could down the hall to my room. Then shut the door behind me.


	5. A Switch in Point of View

This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I gripped onto his hands as I watched the sweat build on his forehead. He wouldn't let go. Not if he could help it. Fuck. This is beyond bad. I could feel his arms straining to keep us both out of danger. He wouldn't last too much longer if I didn't try to do something. I thought about jumping up with him but the bridge would surely break. There's no way it can hold us both anymore. God damnit, Sean. Think for a second. What can you do right now? 

I closed my eyes and then thought about what I would say. Then it hit me like a brick. The most important thing I could possibly ever ask in the last few moments. I opened my eyes again with tears forming. 

"D- Don't forget... about m-me." I felt so helpless and scared. I didn't mean for my voice to crack or waver. It just did it on its own. "Ty! LOOK AT ME! DON'T YOU DARE FORGEEEEEEE..." I couldn't hold on any longer. My hands were already as sweaty as it is. I let go to give him a chance to get the fuck out of here and warn the other workers to get out while they still could. Don't forget. Don't forget. He can't forget. 

I didn't realize how deep the pool was now that the toxic waste was flushed out. Or whatever the hell was happening. A feeling of terror suddenly filled my body causing me to feel the need to stop myself from falling to my death. The only way I knew I could do that at the moment was try to grab something on the sides of the pool and slow my fall. Do something! Scream! SOMETHING! To show that you're sorry for letting go. Sean, do something. 

I couldn't bring myself to. Then before I knew it, the sickening crack of my body filled my ears and caused a rush of tremendous pain to fill my head. I couldn't move much less cry out for help. The most I could do was watch as Ty frantically tried to gather himself up and run before the engine exploded. 

What was this company even thinking when they put this fat hunk of moving machinery into their fucking factory. They should've known that something like this could happen? Why would they do something like this? 

As I choked on my own blood that was slowly filling my mouth with its irony taste, I could hear the engine sputter below me. I could feel it's wrath rumble the entire building and I could feel it's waste slowly start to overflow the tunnels from which they were flushed through. It was pushing out to the area where I was. 

I closed my eyes and thought of all my successes in the past years of working online. All the friends I made and all the hearts I'd touched. All the people I'd met that were so happy to have even been able to have a glance at me. Everyone who loved and supported me. And how I was dying alone in the bottom of an empty pool that was beginning to fill with toxic chemicals that burnt my skin and made me feel strange. 

The engine was suffering and surely would explode. I could feel it's heat along my back and burning my body to a crisp. Then out of nowhere the whole thing collapsed beneath me and an energy inside me caught me by surprise as everything around me shot up in a brilliant green light. My screams of agony were drowned out by the engine's roars. There was nothing I could do to stop the events that would soon follow this moment. 

It's time. 

Time for what? 

Time for you. 

The heat grew around me and I cried even louder than before. The pain I was feeling was unbearable. I don't know how I was even still alive. The chemicals had surrounded me for several minutes. I was sure that I should've been dead. 

The popping of my ears adjusting to the pressure of the waste caused brain splitting headaches. I wanted to open my mouth so bad but I knew that if I did, I'd swallow the toxic chemicals and that would not end well. How the hell are you not dead yet, Sean? 

I couldn't hold my breath anymore. Sadly I couldn't swim because I couldn't move in the ways I needed. My bones were broken and my organs should've been punctured due to my bones being cracked. I opened my mouth on instinct and sucked in what I thought would've been air. I coughed extremely hard and tried to breathe once again but nothing but nasty burning liquid filled my throat. I was drowning. Terror rocked my body in the state that I was surely going to die now. 

Hold on just a bit longer.

I can't hold on. I've accepted the fact that I'm going to die. I've accepted that I'm going to die alone and probably dissolve in this pool of toxic waste from the fucking engine. 

Please, Sean. 

Stop it! I'm in enough pain as it is! Just let me die! 

You know I can't do that. I'm your body. I will try with every fiber of my being to keep you alive through survival instincts obtained over time. You will survive this if I can help it. 

Why are you dooming me to suffer like this? You're supposed to be under my control. Not me under yours. 

That's where you're wrong. I control you. 

No, stop it. I have nothing but a broken body that's going to most likely dissolve in this pool. What can you do to stop that? Huh? 

When the body can no longer survive in its current condition it must either die, reproduce to give the next generation a chance at living free of the same torture, or mutate. 

What do you expect to do to me?

Stupid brain. Figure it out. I know you can. 

Oh no. Oh no no no no. No you can't. Just let me die! Please! I beg of you! 

Too late. The process began as soon as the waste began to surround you. 

I screamed. But all that came out were bubbles that floated up to the surface where I thought my last breaths would be exposed.


	6. Through the Archway

Don't forget. Don't forget. The voice seemed to fade in and out while continuing to grow more intense each time. Don't forget! Don't forget! It kept repeating the same words over and over. DON'T FORGET! DON'T FORGET! Don't forget what? I never asked. YOU CAN NEVER FORGEEEEE... the moment I felt Jack slip from my grasp. The voice screamed as his. The dream took me back to when he's let go. When he screamed how he didn't want me to forget him. What could this possibly mean? 

Don't forget what? 

~•~•~•~•~

The pounding in my brain continued. It almost felt as if my heart were inside my head. Not to mention with each thump a jolt of searing hot pain ran straight down my spine. Then up the bones in my arms leading to my hands and back down to my legs.

I scream escaped my lungs causing more air to float up to the surface and the nasty chemicals to burn down my throat as the burning torture hit harder than the last few blows. I couldn't breathe and yet I was still alive. Something was keeping my heart in a steady rhythm. I'm pretty sure I'd swallowed more than a lethal amount of the toxic chemicals that the stupid engine created. 

Hold on just a bit longer, Sean. You're almost done.

Everything around me seemed different. I could practically see the tiny particles that were floating around in the burning liquid that I was currently submerged in. 

Try to get to the surface. Take a deep breath. 

My legs began to kick in their own as I watched the surface of the liquid slowly come into view. Just like before I could clearly spot the grooves that were burned into the sides of the pool due to whatever the hell happened when I fell. Whatever that green light that seemed to be shot straight up from where I laid. What the hell am I?

I broke through the surface and sputtered a bit in the liquid before wiping it away from my eyes and face. My fingers felt hot to the touch. And something in my mouth felt extremely odd. I ran my fingers through my hair with a cautious and shaky hand. 

I think I might have escaped death. Which I'm not proud of. Mostly because I was ready to give up and because I'm not too sure I've been down here for a short period of time. 

You'll have to find a way out of here.

I closed my eyes and thought for a single moment on how I could possibly get out of there. The only reliable way I could think of was somehow swimming out through the pipes that led to the main reactor that then lead to an area that had a bridge similar to the one that I fell off of that would be closer to the top of of the pool. Hopefully the main reactor didn't explode when I did whatever the hell it is that I did. Let's just say that I can now live up to the name "Green Beacon" from my tumblr page. 

Also visiting Ty here at his job so many times is finally paying off. After the hours upon hours of boredom and running around with no sense of direction to lead us anywhere. Just straight ignorant bliss to guide us, two grown ass men, throughout this radioactive power... generator... facility... thing. And somehow he wasn't fired after all the times I fucked up under his surveillance. 

I dove under the surface holding my breath. On instinct I closed my eyes too. They still burned but not as much. But being the idiot I am, I opened them under the green liquid and soon found out that it hurt more than anything I'd ever felt before to continue peering under the liquid's surface in order to make out where the hell I should go. I glance frantically around trying to find the opening when I finally spot it not too far from where I was. 

I broke the surface once more before taking a massive breath and diving under once more to find my route of escape. The opening was almost like an archway from what I could tell when I'd stupidly opened my eyes under there. I brushed my hand slightly over the metal archway that led me deeper inside the self-sustaining engine.

My head hit the wall and it hurt more than it should have. Plus I swallowed a bit more of the chemicals. I needed to get to the surface so that I could breathe again. And hopefully spit up the burning liquid before it damages anymore of my insides. Which I have no doubt are completely jimmy jammed around and destroyed. 

The only problem was that this tunnel was filled to the brim with whatever these liquid chemicals are and there were no spots for me to breathe or spit. That's just wonderful. My lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen. 

Suck in, you idiot!

I listened to it. It hasn't exactly lied to me yet. I took a deep breath and started to choke for about a second when I suddenly felt light headed. I'm not going to make it am I? I'm no where near the end of this blasted pipe. 

Just a little further, now. The end is about two seconds away. I swear. 

In my dizzy state, I pushed off of the wall towards where I thought the end of the tube would be. 

The other way. Damnit. 

I twist my body hearing my ribs crack along with my spine and neck. It wasn't as refreshing this time. The hot pain was still present within each bone and muscle just waiting for me to screw up again so that it could spread even further. 

When I finally got an idea of where I was, I dove to the bottom and pushed off to get to the surface. In a exhausted gasp, I broke the surface and coughed violently for longer than I would've liked. I opened my clenched eyes to see the bottom of the bridge right in front of my face. I could see my reflection in the shiny metal. 

What was looking back at me wasn't the person I remember. No. This was something I couldn't even describe if I tried.


	7. Dive Down

"Rox! I need to get in there! Mark expects me to be at the cafe in fifteen minutes!" I pounded on the door once more. She opened up right as I was about to break it down. 

"Okay, jeez Louise, yeh bitch. I didn't know Mark invited you on a date. Calm yer tits." She stated to laugh and then shoved me inside before closing the door behind me. "Also one other thing... the toilet is clogged." 

"Okay, first of all, ew. Second of all, it's not a fookin date! Mark just wants to chat and have tea or coffee. Nothing more, nothing less. So get your fookin head out of the gutter, Rox. Sometimes I wonder if all you think about is bullshit. Which you clearly do!" All I could hear behind the door was her laughter as she descended down the stairs. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Roxanne burst into the living room holding a letter. It was the letter the bank sent me. "Ty, what the hell is this?" 

"I honestly have no idea. Jack apparently left some money in his name to me when he died and well, that's it. I don't know how much or why. All I know is that it's there and I either forward it to my account or his girlfriend." She looked back at it with her eyes filling with tears. 

"Why are you so generous, Jack?" She whispered and clutched the letter to her chest tightly as tears fell down her bright red cheeks. Her black and red hair flung in front of her face as she bolted up the stairs. 

I don't know why but I had a strange feeling that Jack somehow wasn't who he had said he was. Or something along the lines of him being involved with a bad organization that offered him an ass ton of money to do really horrible things. I don't know. My mind goes to weird places when I go into deep thoughts about things. 

I sighed and changed the channel to the news. Apparently the explosion at the power plant killed several people including Jack and my "boss" Henry Olkers. That guy never knew when to shut up. And you'd think a guy like him with his physic and mentality would've had a girlfriend or wife by now but no. He was by far the loneliest person I'd ever met. And to make matters worse he had a massive temper when it came to what station I should've assigned myself to. After all he was my boss in the station I'd chosen for the time being. But I blew it after the first two months. Which I guess was why he blew a fuse when I told him someone died under my authority. He deserved what he got but he didn't deserve to die. Not even after all the times he'd told me to change my station. 

After the news caster finished up she stopped suddenly and put her finger up to her ear with a confused face. Then she withdrew her finger and stood up before walking off the screen. It changed to the traffic but she was showing a live feed of the traffic near the power plant. Several authorities and police officers were crowded outside with guns out and red and blue lights swirling around in the night. A spotlight shot towards the building and illuminated an opening. A man stood there with nothing on. 

~•~•~•~•~

I peered at myself in the shining metal. My eyes were no longer blue but green and kind of radiating energy like the pulsing veins underneath my skin. The energy seemed to pump through my blood stream each time my heart thumped in my chest. The energy pulses caused slight tingles of electricity to run down to the tips of my fingers and toes. My hair looked as if it were dyed a bright green and it too glowed with a luminescent tint. Each strand stood up on my head much to my disappointment. I looked like a mad scientist. But I am only the experiment. My ears were pointed and longer than before. Now people have another reason to call me leprechaun. As if they didn't already. I brought my hand up to my face and watched as the energy traveled to the tips of my fingers before bleeding out down my arm back into the pool of toxic chemicals. 

I gulped down the fear of what I had become. A jolt of pain smashed into my stomach making my back arch and my hands shoot up to grab ahold of the bridge to keep myself above the surface. The tingling in my fingers was starting to become a hot burning sensation. I gritted my teeth against the pain waiting for it to pass so that I could pull myself up out of the pool of misery. 

Dive down you idiot! The process isn't complete! 

I screamed against my arm, biting the skin so hard that I broke it. The substance that flowed from my self-inflicted wound wasn't red but a bright green like that of my hair. I could feel my heart beat faster and faster as the squirming in my stomach reached an unbearable level. 

How could one body inflict so much pain on a simple being as myself? The fact that it controlled even the tiniest reaches of my brain enough to change my physical shape and talk to me without being present was undeniably terrifying. And there was nothing I could do to stop it. It's a part of me apparently. 

Dive YOU IDIOT! DIVE! 

I let go of the bridge and let my head sink below the surface. My lungs burned in my chest as the surface grew in distance from my head. The squirming in my stomach worsened with each minute I was beneath there. I even opened my mouth on instinct to scream but received a mouthful of nasty chemicals that burned my tongue and stuck to my teeth. I opened my eyes once again to track how far down I'd sunk. I reached a hand up just as another blast of pain caused my back to arch and my knees to crash into my chest trying to keep myself comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as I possibly could be in this situation. I closed my mouth as fast as I could before running my tongue over my teeth. I could feel them poke painfully at it as if they were pointier than before. I don't doubt it. But there was not way to make sure just yet since the only reflective surface around here was the bridge and I was pretty far below it. 

I didn't even bother trying to fight it anymore. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. There's nothing I can do to change that unless I want to be in pain for the rest of my life. Whatever life there may be left. My back arched again independent of my judgement as the energy I'd felt build up in my chest when I first landed in the pool the day I let go of Ty, skyrocket in a brilliant display of green light. My fists were clenched throughout the entire process along with my teeth and eyes just waiting for the sudden surge of hot searing pain to pass. 

There was no way to tell how long I kept myself in that position under the surface of the burning chemicals. I only know that I caused a second explosion in that bloody factory or whatever the hell you'd call it. And to think that the last thing I saw before I blacked out this time was a dark green, sparking, liquid pooling from my fingertips.


	8. Merchandise for Your Broken Heart

"ROXIE! DID YOU ORDER A PACKAGE?!" I shouted up the stairs, holding a somewhat large box with random stickers of unicorns, rainbows, and a few kittens here and there. "WITH UH... RANDOM STICKERS?!"

I heard her shuffling in her room before a loud bang ricocheted off the walls in the hallway. She practically tripped down the stairs with a frantic look in her eyes. My eyes went wide as I watched her plummet to the bottom stair. "Gimme the box, yeh bitch." 

"Are you alri-" 

"THAT'S MY FUCKING BOX OF SHIT FROM MY FRIENDS IN AMERICA! I've been waiting forEVer for it!" She practically tackled me for this box. So I handed her the cardboard box in return for a smile. Which I did receive. 

"What did they send you?" 

"Oh nothing really. Just a whole bunch of... JSE... merchandise... oh." She pulled a hoodie out of the box that had the words "BOOPER DOOPER" and a green eyeball wrapping around the letters. Tears ran down her face as she clutched the hoodie in her hands against her chest. I could see the hurt in the wrinkles that lined her face. The internal battle she must be having breaks my heart. "Why do they know me so well?" She whispered to no one in particular. 

"Well I would guess that since they know your address, they must know you pretty well if you trust them enough with your address, Rox." 

"You just... repeated yourself. And you don't UNDERSTAND HOW FUCKING HARD IT IS FOR ME TO ACCEPT THAT I WILL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN! Also, didn't Mark want to meet y-" I jumped up from my spot and dashed out the door, keys in hand and my wallet falling out of my back pocket. 

I nearly tripped down the steps in front of my house. Instead my glasses flew off my face and landed on the ground causing the lens to pop out. I stopped running and picked up the frame off the dirt. I ran my fingers over the ground searching for the lens when I felt my phone vibrate in my shirt pocket. I cursed under my breath and continued to search for that lens while also trying to not drop my phone. 

"Ty, is everything alright? It's been almost twenty minutes since I asked you to be here." Marks voice rang through the speaker. 

"Um, yeah. Im fine. I just dropped my glasses and a lens popped out and I'm currently on my knees in my garden looking for that lens. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes, Mark. Sorry for making you wait." I heard a slight chuckle. 

"It's okay, really. My flight doesn't leave for another few hours." I let out a sigh of relief before finally feeling the cool glass beneath my fingers. 

"I've found it. I'll be right there. See ya, Mark." I hung up before he could answer and flung myself inside my car. I quickly pushed the lens back into the frame before plopping them back on top of my nose and igniting the car engine with my keys. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

I was driving past the power plant when another explosion sounded and green light that was very similar to what I had saw when Jack died flew up to light up the night sky. You could feel the ground shaking and the air suddenly becoming warm and sticky. I kept driving since it was no longer my concern on what happened there. 

My gut kept screaming at me to turn around but I knew that if I did, I would have to face the place that allowed my best friend to be killed and I wasn't sure I could handle any more guilt after what happened at the funeral. 

My eyes blurred with tears making it difficult to see the road. So I blinked a few times clearing the blurriness away enough so that I wouldn't crash. The cafe Mark and I were meeting at was only a few more minutes. 

~•~•~•~•~ 

A bright light shown through my aching eyelids. I moved my arm to help shield my eyes from the sun's bright rays. "Fuckin hell, man. Could yeh just turn it down a bit?" I whispered to myself. 

I opened my eyes fully to see a helicopter hovering over the area I was laying. Don't move a muscle. I stayed still and took a deep breath. The helicopter flew past with its spotlight. How the hell did they not see me? 

I shift uncomfortably in whatever position I woke up in. A groan escaped my throat as the muscles in my back cracked with a refreshing stretch. I could hear a few voices to my left. I couldn't tell how far away they were but it sounded pretty darn close. 

"Yeah Jim said there was a man down this way. Not sure if a man could survive a blast like that." They're talking about me. Thank whatever god is watching over us. No. Stay still. They can't find you. You'll be an outcast. Nonsense. "Just a little further."

"O-over here!" I shouted. You IDIOT! I scrambled to my feet covering up my private area hoping nobody saw it. I spotted the two men I heard about four metres to my left. In a hurry I turned and ran just as they spotted me. 

"Hey! You can't be running around here naked like that! Go on! Get outta here!" I turned my head to look at them and they froze. The chubby one took out his radio and proceeded to call in something about me. I didn't stick around long enough to hear what he said. 

On the edge of the factory's property is a forest that should lead me right to civilization. Hopefully I can just start a new life or something. Before I could even make sure no one was following me, my foot caught in a tree root and my hands flew out to catch me. Then I just kept on running like nothing happened. 

I didn't really comprehend what I was doing until my hand was punctured by a twig. I ran almost a kilometre on all fours. What bothered me was that it wasn't uncomfortable anymore. Not like when I would run up the stairs on all fours when I was a child. Although, it was weird to be running around the woods unlike a human because I was so used to being on two legs instead of four. 

So I stood up and kept running. Not as fast as before but still quite fast. I watched the trees fly past as I kept running. My only thought throughout this entire journey was 'Where the hell am I going to get some food?'


	9. Shattered Glass

I spotted Mark sitting near the window in the cafe. The lights that were turned on inside illuminated the parking lot outside. I quickly got out of my car and walked as fast as I could to the door. Mark waved me over to where he was sitting. 

The booth he chose felt as if no one before us had sat here. A waitress walked over to us and asked in a really thick Irish accent what we'd like to drink. Mark of course couldn't understand a single word we were exchanging. I could tell because he sunk down in his chair with pinkish cheeks. 

"Mark, do you want anything?" 

"Um... I'll have a uh, medium latte with whipped cream?" The waitress scribbled down our order and sped back behind the counter. "I have no idea what you two guys were saying." 

"She was just asking me what type of tea I was going to have today or my usual. And I said I'd like to have my usual. That's pretty much it." I gave him a weak smile before staring down at my hands that rested peacefully on the table. "I don't know if you knew Jack as well as I did, but I just have to thank you for being the person he looked up to as a friend and mentor. When he was still in college, he would be talking about things you uploaded nonstop for hours on end. And he never would've found this thing he loved so dearly if it weren't for you. Just so that you know."

"I didn't know that I was the reason he started. He always said it was you who gave him the courage to upload his first video. And that I was just someone he looked up to." I scooted back in my seat and placed my hands in my lap. Mark looked at me with hopeful eyes. I will never understand how this man stays so cheery all the time. "Ty, I don't know you that well but I hope you know that you really had a major impact on Jack's life." 

"I know I did. I just wasn't sure if I was THE impact of his life. Which I know for a fact that I am not and never will be. Whatever he was doing on the Internet was what impacted his life the most. I was just someone he trusted. But I let him down. I let his family down because I didn't chase after my dreams like he did. If I had, he'd still be here if I would've went for the career as a musician." Mark leant back in his booth and gave me a smile before reaching for my hands across the table. His touch was soothing and it helped calm my nerves a bit. My shoulders relaxed and my breathing slowed. Mark really knew how to calm someone down. I was impressed. 

"Ty, like I said. I don't know you that well so I can't make any assumptions or anything. But at least he had a friend that was as good as you." I closed my eyes and tilted my head back into the cushion. "Also, did you know that Jack was dating someone?" 

"Yes, how could I not know? He literally spoke to me everyday for the past few years. There's no way I would've missed it." 

"Hmm. I only found out at the funeral. Apparently, her name is Wiishu?" He looked up at the ceiling with a confused glare. "No no no that was her online name. I forget what her actual name is." 

"It's Singe. She's quite beautiful. Jack got pretty lucky with her. Wouldn't you say?" 

"I more or less look at their personality first before I even consider talking to them about that type of thing. I thought Jack did too." My cheeks flushed a bit pink as I realized Mark wasn't that type of douchebag that Jack had made him out to be. "Oh. Our drinks are here." 

The waitress walked up to our table and placed a mug of tea and another mug that could probably fit a softball of what I suppose was Mark's latte with whipped cream. Which it seemed to lack. "Uh... Lyliane? Mark ordered whipped cream to go with his coffee." I gave a slight smile and then it seemed to dawn on her and she apologized before rushing off behind the counter to grab a can of whipped cream. 

"I'm so sorry, Mark. It must've slipped my mind. Anything else you boys want?" Mark still looked confused. She was talking pretty fast as it was. She must not know that he wasn't native. 

"Mark, she's apologizing and asking if there is anything else you'd like." Mark shook his head and slunk in his seat picking up the mug, sipping the hot coffee and getting some whipped cream on his nose. "Uh... You've got a little something on your uh..." 

"My what?" 

"Nose..." Lyliane came back to our tables with a few napkins. "Thank you." She smiled before returning to her own business. Mark quickly grabbed a napkin and wiped the cream off his nose. His face went red with embarrassment. 

"So uh... where were we?" I didn't get a chance to answer when a crash sounded from the kitchen and a man flew right past my head and out the window, shattering it. "What the fuck was that?!" 

"I have no idea." I heard the chefs and waitresses all make sure each other was alright. That man came out of nowhere. "Lyliane?! Is everyone okay?!" I heard a fine yes from behind the counter. Then I got up out of my chair and jumped out the window to the ground where the man laid. 

He was naked with his arse hanging out in the open for all to see. There were several scraps and cuts that I assumed were from the glass. His hair was bright green from what I could tell. His body was facing the other way after having rolled around a bit before stopping. Overall, the man looked sickly what with his skin having a light green tint to it and bruises covering is upper back and legs. 

"Hey, lad! Are you alright? You took quite a tumble, don't yeh think?" A man from another table yelled out to him. Neither of us dared take a step closer. You never know if these kind of people are crazy or not. However, Mark decided he wanted to investigate further and walked up closer to the man. He knelt down and shook his shoulder and turned him over so that he could clearly see the poor man's face. A slight yelp sounded from his throat as he jumped back and emptied his stomach of its contents. 

"Mark?! What's wrong?!" I ran up beside him. "Gosh, man. Who knew you had a weak stomach?" I patted his back to hopefully make it easier for him to puke. His whole body was shaking and sweating. While he was finishing up, I glanced back at the man and I couldn't believe my eyes. 

~•~•~•~•~

I spotted a building that wasn't too far from where I'd ran. It was surprisingly close to where I had gotten out of. Then a whiff of something delicious filled my nostrils with its wondrous scent. Food. 

I practically sprinted the rest of the way there. I wanted that food as soon as possible. Although I should've watched where I was running because I smashed right into the back door and kept running before being flung through a window by some unknown figure that I hadn't noticed was there. My head hit the ground first causing the earth to spin and black dots to slowly creep up over my vision. I groaned and rolled over, not being able to move much more than that. 

There were voices that I could clearly hear. I just couldn't make out the words they were speaking. The tone of this one voice caught me off guard yet I couldn't move or even protest with him for seeing me like this. A firm grasp wiggled my shoulder before turning my face upwards. Their grip lessened dramatically before I heard retching and a calm voice that I recognized. From where, I don't know yet but the tone this person was using was screaming 'home' at me.


	10. Control

"M-Mark? Please tell me that's who I think it is." My stomach was turning in a knot causing my whole system to feel queasy and nauseous. No wonder why he threw up. 

I watched as the man slowly opened his eyes and attempted to sit up. His eyes glowed a bright green and the part of his eye that was supposed to be white was a blood stained red. I swallowed repeatedly trying to get a grip on myself. Until his eyes widened and he spoke. 

"Ty?" No, it can't be. He glanced behind me at Mark's hunched over body. "Mark? W-wh-what ar-are y-you two doing H-H-here?" He was having trouble speaking. Probably due to his abnormally large teeth. Not to mention how sharp they must've felt inside his mouth. "Please tell me this is all a dream." He whispered to himself. 

"Jack?" My breath hitched in my throat making it extremely hard to get the right word out. His face lit up with a smile almost as if he didn't expect me to remember him. A frown crept onto his face as he realized that he was in fact nude in front of a bunch of people. Then his cheeks flushed a deep red. Lucky for him, some of the people working at this cafe had the decency to offer clothes to him. He took the bright blue jacket gladly and tied it around his waist while standing up from his spot on the ground. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

I had to get out of here. My friends have already seen me and an ass ton of other people have too. I looked around searching for a place to hide. Ty noticed this and immediately tried to pull me over to his car. Mark was still retching in the grass. Poor lad. 

I decided to take matters into my own hands  because I needed to leave as soon as possible. "Ty let me go, please." 

"No offense, Jack, but you died and now you're fucking alive and shit that I can't even begin to understand has obviously happened to you. I would like to help you get well so that you can continue doing what you love. And honestly, I'm absolutely terrified at what might have happened when you fell. Let's just get you out of here." I stopped resisting his pull. Mainly because if I did I would have to stay here longer which I didn't think was a good idea. And Ty has pretty bad temper issues. From what I remember. 

Before I forgot, "SORRY ABOUT YOUR WINDOW!" And I received nothing but a few groans and Mark's heavy breathing back. Was he gonna be alright? "Where are you taking me, Ty?" 

He stopped walking to his car and turned his head slightly so that he could glance behind himself. "I'm taking you to my house. Do you have a problem with that?" His voice was cold and his words made my heart thump a tiny bit faster. 

"No, not at all. It's just, is Roxanne gonna be there?" He continued walking and practically shoved me into his car before getting in himself. 

"She is going to freak out." I gulped afraid of what she might do to me. Roxanne was known pretty much by everyone I knew as the person that was in love with me. Except for the fact that we all kept it a secret from Ty so that eventually she and Ty would get together. That didn't happen. Sadly. Apparently, Ty was never interested in her. 

Ty whispered something inaudible before his hands started shaking violently against the steering wheel. I looked over at his face and all I saw was complete and utter sadness. Why was he crying? 

"Please tell me this isn't a joke, that you're actually here and I didn't just stuff a dead man into my car because of all the guilt I've been feeling?" The struggle he was having with himself was dripping from the tone in his voice. 

"N-no. Ty, why would you think that?" He sniffed before gazing up at me with broken eyes that were filled with tears. The once cheery man I knew before was now shattered and crushed by the guilt I had caused him to feel. All because I couldn't hold on any longer. "Why are you crying?" 

He didn't respond. Ty pushed his car key into the ignition just as Mark climbed into the back seat. "I uh...-"

"It's fine, Mark. I know." With that he drove out of the parking lot onto the main road back to his house past the factory. "Why do you want to come with us, Mark?" 

"I honestly don't know, my gut was telling me that I should follow. So I did... Where are we going exactly?" I watched Ty's face scrunch up. He was going through the worst possible torture. So I sunk in my seat trying to hide my face from the other two until we arrived at Ty's home. 

Mark got out first. He opened my door and I attempted to get out. Something was definitely wrong with me. My hands were shaking uncontrollably along with the veins under my skin practically glowing with a greenish tint similar to the toxic waste I'd been stuck in. My breath became violently fast and hard in my chest. Sweat poured down my face as I scrunched my eyes closed to make whatever the hell this was pass faster. Mark was trying to get my attention but I just couldn't at the time. 

Before I even knew what was happening, Mark had already swiped me up in his arms bridal style and ran straight for the house. I clutched tightly to his collar as the torture in my gut became unbearable. A slight whimper escaped my control. Mark noticed because he sprinted up to the door knocking on it with his foot. Since Ty was still in the car down the hill in front of his house. 

"Hello? Who is it?" I heard Roxanne's voice behind the door. 

"It's Mark!" He said through clenched teeth. Probably from the strain I was putting on his body. "Roxanne, please let us in!" She immediately unlocked the door and didn't even get a chance to open it all the way before Mark burst through and laid me on the couch near the front door. My whole body was tense and sweating. I was taking abnormally short breaths as the sweat traveled down my chest. "Jack, just breathe. Everything is okay. You're at Tyson's house." 

I replied with a shaky breath. "No shit, Sherlock." I smiled and closed my eyes before laying my hands over my heart trying to see if I can keep the thumping under control. 

"Roxanne?! Could you get a-" 

"Got a wet rag right here. Um, Mark? As in Markiplier?" I opened one eye and looked at them. Roxanne held a wet rag and gingerly offered the rag to him. He took it and I immediately turned to me with a concerned glare. He placed the rag on my forehead and asked me if I wanted anything. I just groaned and waited for the tension in my chest to die down. 

"Jack, please just breathe. You're going to be alright." I didn't believe him. I've been through hell and back and yet he still felt that I needed someone to tell me I'll be alright. I admire his fatherly ability. It's just that I don't want him to father me like this. He's my friend, not my dad, damnit. "What the hell happened to you, Jack?" He whispered oddly loud enough for me to hear. 

"I... have no idea." The wet rag on my forehead helped soothe the pounding headache a bit but not by much. The trembling in my fingers reached an unbearable point that I had to sit up and sit on them in order to keep them under control. Which seems to be slipping from my grasp.


	11. Toxic Talk

I awoke to the sound of my window being knocked on. The knock scared me awake sending my glasses flying off my face and my hands to the ceiling of my car. I looked over at who had knocked and Mark was standing there holding a cup of coffee. 

I rolled down my window. "What time is it?" I asked with only one open and trying not to stare at the sun. 

"Uh..." he took out his phone. "About seven thirty in the morning, Ty. Here I made some coffee." I took it gladly. I sipped it and tasted the many flavours that swirled within the mug. I closed my eyes and took in the scent of the mint creamer. "Jack told me which creamer you liked. And how much you liked." I smiled and rested my forehead on my wrist. 

"Ooooh. How I love the taste of mint in the morning. Mmm." I sighed. "Thank you. I'm going to get out so back away so that I don't hit your pretty face." He backed away with a grin and his hands open as if to let me have my space. Upon getting out of my seat, my back cracked several times before everything felt normal. Or at least as normal as it could get. 

Then I heard a scream from inside the house. I looked to the house then back at Mark. He shrugged his shoulders and we took off. After I closed the door of my car of course. Mark was able to get to my front door faster since he didn't have a mug of liquid in his hand to slow him down. 

"Roxanne?!" He yelled into the house. 

"In the kitchen, Mark!" Her voice seemed surprised and quite tense actually. "Did you wake up Ty?!" 

"Yeah. He's enjoying the coffee now. But, why did you scream?" I walked in to see Roxanne pointing at something behind the wall to the kitchen towards the floor. Mark walked closer as I walked further in to get a better view. Whatever was going down, was going down. 

"Jack was just enjoying his coffee when he started coughing and wheezing. Then this dark green mist stuff came flying out of his mouth and nose like smoke. I screamed when he collapsed after putting his mug on the counter. Almost like he knew he was about to pass out or something. I have no idea what happened to him when you said he fell," she pointed at me," but whatever the hell happened is changing him physically. And I don't like the way it's headed." A look of disgust and heartbreak was lining the creases in her forehead. 

"Hey! Don't talk about Jack like that. He's alive because of whatever happened. Isn't that enough of a price to pay for his fucking life?" A chill ran down my back as I watched Mark's face turn stern and angry. His voice sounded so powerful and almost as if he felt offended knowing Roxanne didn't like the way Jack was changing. Which I can admit is pretty terrifying. But he's alive and Mark did have a point. 

"Mark, you don't have to defend me. I'm fine. I know that what's happened to me is terrifying. I know because I was alone when things started to go south. Because I gave Ty a chance to save the men and women inside the factory." He spoke with a scratchy sound and often swallowed during the sentences he had said. 

"Um, it was a power plant, Jack. Not a factory. There's a difference." I explained before clearing my throat and taking another long sip of coffee. 

"Whatever the fuck it was. The fact is that with my sacrifice, Ty was able to warn everyone to get out. I was okay with dying because I knew he would take advantage of the time I gave him. I just guess my body had different plans for me." Jack stood up and walked calmly to the dining table before motioning us all to sit down and listen to whatever this story of his was. "So you all know that I was the cause of the explosion, right?" We all shook our heads. 

"What do you mean, 'the cause of the explosion'?" I asked. 

"Whatever happened when I fell set off a chemical reaction within my body to create a beam of light that resulted in the engine exploding. I don't know why or how I was able to do it, but whatever did, started the process of this." He motioned his hand all around his face and chest while looking directly into each of our eyes. "My brain gave my body a choice on what it wanted to do. Would it die, die another way, or mutate in order to survive. I think you guys know the answer. So I didn't want to live on. I was in so much pain already. I was ready to just end it right then and there. But my body wasn't. Something inside of me wanted to live and be released so whatever that was caused all of these horrible pains to shoot throughout my back, face, fingers, and such. The pains were from my body transforming itself into something that could survive in the toxic waste from the engine. What I didn't know at the time was that once I got out of the toxic waste, I could never finish the process completely. Resulting in me being in pain for the rest of my life. So instead of walking out of the... power plant, I sunk below the surface to finish the process. In doing that, it caused the process to start again. Like a play button. But instead of a button, it was the beam. The explo-" 

"Wait, if you weren't going to walk out the door, then who the fuck did? I saw a naked man standing in front of the building on the news that seemed to be in the same condition as you. Key word, seemed. I didn't see any pointed ears or glowing skin on the screen." Jack shifted uncomfortably in his chair and shrugged his shoulders. I nodded before taking yet another sip of coffee. It was so tasty. 

"So anyway, the explosion from the beam or whatever you want to call it caused the building around me to crumble meaning the pool of chemicals I was submerged in would spill out and I wouldn't be able to complete the process. I think that may be why I keep having these weird spasms and heat flashes. My body is still fighting it's way to complete itself. But it can't because I'm no longer in the environment that it was mutating my body to be comparable with. I don't know this for sure because I can't exactly hear the little thoughts of my body communicating with my brain anymore. It always could tell what was up." His hand was on the table tapping a rhythmic beat that sounded oddly like a heartbeat but sped up and slowed down at the same time. I don't know how I came to that conclusion because I wasn't a drummer like Jack was. 

"Was it like a voice or like a gut feeling?" You could practically see the curiosity dripping from his mouth onto the table. Mark leaned in closer towards Jack's direction. If he did it on purpose, I wasn't sure. Nor did I care. 

"It was like both actually. The voice was soft but menacing at the same time. Whereas the actions it told me to do was more like a gut feeling rather than instructions." Mark nodded and satisfyingly leant back in his chair causing a slight squeak to sound throughout the room. 

Roxanne's face lit up after about thirty seconds of sitting in complete, awkward silence. "We should try to get some of the waste that didn't spill out before they start cleaning up." You've got to be kidding me.


	12. Power Planting

"Why are we doing this again, Roxie?" I whisper as a tractor rushes by to get to the same place we were headed. 

"If you had listened to what Jack said, you might realize that the only thing he needs in order to complete this mutation thing, is the toxic chemicals that his body was mutating itself in order to survive in, yeh stupid fucking bitch." I looked over at Jack and Mark. Mark was carrying Jack on his back because he was having trouble walking as far as we had walked. And while we were walking to the site, Jack began to sweat more and a soft glow emitted from his body. 

"Jack, are you alright?" I asked with a shaky breath. I'm way too out of shape for this. 

"I'm f-fine, Ty. Just a little bit woozy, s'all." I knew he was lying. Just the way he was clinging onto Mark's jacket and breathing was enough to convince me that he was in fact not fine. But being the little Irish bastard that he is, decided that it was best to not worry his friends and to continue on with our quest so it seemed. "Mar-ark... I need to get off for a second. Please." With that, he gently pulled Jack's arms off from around his neck and dropped his legs from their spot on his waist. Mark hunched over with his hands gripping the denim of his pants before regaining his breath back. Jack however, fought more and more to regain his. 

He dug his fingers into the ground as his eyes grew wider and brighter than before. This look he had not only showed with pain, but with fear. Fear of what, I wasn't sure. Maybe he feared what he might become. Or maybe what would happen if he didn't completely finish doing what he had to do in order to survive. I was startled out of thought when a sudden whimper sounded throughout the grassy field. My heart practically jumped out of my chest when I heard another. "Jack?" 

"Mark, pick him up I hear someone coming. We've got to go now." Roxie sprinted towards a few bushes and dove in them to hide from whoever was coming. I glanced over at Mark struggling to pull Jack's flailing body over to the shrubs in order to hide. His struggle sent a flashback to haunt my thoughts. An image of Jack's horrified face flashed before my eyes and made my heart feel like it was choking me. Tears coursed down my cheeks as I tried to move my feet from their place in the grass. "TY! GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OVER HERE! MOVE, YEH BITCH!" 

What the hell is happening to me? I need to calm down. I tried to speak but all that came out of my mouth was discouraged grunting sounds that gurgled a bit in my throat. A hand landed on my shoulder and proceeded to drag me over to the brush by my shirt. 

Everything seemed to be skipping as the black dots pulsed in the corners of my vision. No matter how deep of a breath I took, I couldn't re-inflate my lungs long enough to catch it. My heart wouldn't slow down fast enough qto allow my next few movements to be as quiet and swift as they needed to be. Is this what it's like to have a panic attack? 

"Ty! Snap out of it!" I slowly looked over at Roxanne and watched her face relax and realize what was happening. "Oh my god. Ty? No no no no. It's alright." It wasn't alright though. "Please, try to calm down." She grabbed my head and wiped the tears from my cheeks with her thumbs, massaging them into my face. My heart was still racing as a man and a woman wearing what looked like construction uniforms walked right past all of us before stopping and turning back around to run in the complete opposite direction. "Ty. Please." 

She positioned herself on top of me with her face inches from mine. Our noses practically touched for a split second before she dug her head into my shoulder and placing her hand over my mouth. I didn't object because we needed to stay silent and I was making a hell of a lot of noise. Although I hadn't exactly realized I was, I knew that that would most likely be the only reason why she would shut me up. 

After about what seemed like an hour, Mark shouted from the other side of the clearing,  asking if everything was alright. "Roxanne! Everything good over there?!" She took a deep breath and got off of me. 

"Yeah. Everything's alright! This little bitch here just decided to scare the living day lights out of me!" I sighed with a deep breath that was almost too good to be real. 

"Well, we better get moving! Jack's burning up! Like literally burning!" I sit up, propped up on my elbows as Roxie gently finds her way through the bushes. Wait, but what does he mean by... burning? 

I didn't have a chance to ask when Roxie shot her hand towards me and pulled me up so that we could continue on. Those workers we'd seen almost ten minutes before were most likely doing their jobs now. At least I hoped they would be. 

"Mark, you can put me down now." Jack whispered to him. I guess he felt alright enough to walk by himself. I couldn't differentiate between either of their groans though. I'm assuming the deeper toned one is Mark though. Mark's back must hurt like hell from carrying Jack through that field. 

"Jack, please don't-" 

"Shut up, Mark." His eyes erupted with a green light before he scrunched his eyes shut and coughed into his hand. Mark stood there with a terrified expression. You could tell that whatever Jack did made him seem a lot scarier than he had been only a few moments before. "S-sorry. We need to move. I don't think I can take any more of this dickitry." I smiled a bit at his comment. Dickitry was one of the many phrases he picked up from younger me. 

"Well let's move. I don't think we will have much time once we get to the pool. That is, if there's anything left of it." She knows what she's doing, I'll tell you that. I'm just confused as to why she suddenly feels that she has to take charge in this situation. 

"Yeah. Let's go." Jack said before limping over towards the lights with his hand pushing into his ribcage. It looked almost as if he felt he were injured.


	13. Warning Sign

Roxie and I devised a simple plan. I would distract some of the officers that we're currently guarding the wreckage. I would be in charge of keeping them away long enough for her to grab a few water otters full of the chemicals. However, while we would be doing this, Mark and Jack would hang back so that they won't get caught. And that if something goes wrong, Mark would be able to get us out of going to prison. 

I signaled for her to get ready with a signal flash of my phone's camera. She moved across the grass in a crouched position. Why my boss never thought to cut the grass was beyond me. But somehow, she got past the fence that they put up to keep everyone out. She waved her hand as a few officers walked right past her. 

I quickly and quietly strode as fast as I could over the fence, startling the other few officers. "HEY! You can't be here! It's not safe yet!" 

"I ...used to work here. I didn't realize that I didn't have to come in anymore." I mentally slap myself. That was so fucking cringe worthy. Why did I think these two guys would buy that?!

"Didn't you see it on the news, lad?" I shook my head. Obviously I had but they didn't know that. The first officer looked annoyed. While the other seemed a bit fidgety with his hands. "Well, please leave now. We're still figuring out what happened and we're about to start cleaning up the radioactive waste that spilt out."

"Okay. But have you guys found out if there was anyone who died in the accident?" I'm trying to act stupid so that I can keep them here longer. 

"You really didn't get the memo? It's seems pretty unlikely you didn't read it in like a newspaper or online... but if you didn't, then my bad. Two people were pronounced dead. Both were men. One was Sean McLoughlin and the other was Henry Olkers. A few people were injured and one person was trapped under the rubble of the collapsed part of the building after the first explosion. They weren't discovered until a couple days ago. I believe it was a man but nobody was able to clearly clarify whether or not it was. Now, sir please leave before we have to arrest you." I nodded and backed away from the fence back to the clearing that Jack and Mark were. 

Mark was crouched next to Jack as he was shaking and sweating in his spot on the slightly damp ground. I crouched behind the same few bushes they were hiding behind. Mark whipped his hand back and grabbed my shirt before realizing it was me. 

"What the fuck, Mark?" I whispered. 

"Sorry. I just wasn't expecting you to be back so fast." Shit. 

"Is Rox still back up there?" Mark nodded while rubbing Jacks forehead comfortingly. "Wait, if she's still up there, does that mean you're... shit. Wait here. I'll be right back." I stood up and brushed the dirt off my jeans. I peaked over the bushes at the fence spotting Roxie crouched in front of it holding two bottles. The seemed to be smoking. I could clearly see that the bottles were burning the palms of her hands. "Roxie." She turned to look at me and grimaced at whatever pain she must've been feeling. 

"Get over here and help me, yeh bitch." I smirked and snuck next to her, grabbing her free hand in mine while taking a bottle from her other. "Thanks. Now let's go." I led her to the bushes I'd left Mark. 

"Two bottles? You think that'll be enough?" Roxie and I looked at each other before handing both of them to him to give to Jack. 

~•~•~•~•~

I felt a hand lightly push my shoulder. My eyes instinctively opened to see Mark and Ty staring down at me. Ty was handing a bottle of the chemicals to Mark for some reason. I could practically feel it running down my throat already. It burned more than it had last time. I coughed violently while sitting up. A shiver went up my back as I felt Mark's hand rubbing it giving what little comfort he could in that time. 

"Do you think you need to drink it? Or bathe in it?" I just continued coughing. I needed to catch my breath. My lungs felt like they were collapsing. After about a few minutes, I finally caught my breath enough so that I could talk with him.

"I don't know. I think I'm able to just drink it. But I'm not really sure since I no longer have that voice thing. I know that I'm in the final stage. Just not sure if that means internal or external." I took quick shaky breaths gripping the grass in between my fingers. The abdominal pain was more or less making it a bit harder to think. Not to mention my head was spinning at a rapid pace. 

Mark handed me the bottle and cautiously helped me bring it up to my lips. He didn't have to do anything. Yet he chose to help rather then sit back and watch me suffer. The liquid's taste wasn't that bad anymore but I could feel the energy building up in my chest. I sputtered on the chemicals and pushed Mark away with all my might. I watched Ty's face light up with fear. Fear of what, you may say. Well, me. 

I tried to hold the surge of energy down in my throat but everything was screaming at me to let go. And I would. As soon as they were out of danger. Especially Ty. He wouldn't deserve that. I hunched over breathing heavily and tried to gulp down more of the burning liquid. I dropped the empty bottle and laid down on my back putting my hands on my forehead. I thought that drinking more would help but if anything, it made it worst. 

"Jack, what's going on?" Mark slowly started approaching me. 

"NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" I cried out. He listened by backing away faster than he had come forward. "GET AWAY!" I watched from afar just how terrified they all were. What scared me, was that I no longer felt the surge of energy. And I don't think they were expecting what I was warning them about.


	14. Close Encounter

Jack's skin lit up as a stream of light shot up into the sky with a heart shattering cry of pain. I couldn't stop myself from crying as I watched his body jerk and spasm as the light shot up like a beacon from his chest. I heard Roxanne sob loudly from behind me. I glanced back and saw that she was covering her face with her shaking hands. 

The ground around us was lit up for a good twenty seconds before it died down and the beams from the cops' flashlights became visible. My eyes widened and I tapped Mark's shoulder pointing at our signal to leave. "Mark... we need to go as soon as possible. Grab Jack. Run to the car and keep making him drink that stuff. I don't want him to have to go through whatever the fuck that was again." I grabbed Roxie's elbow and pulled her along with me. "Come on, Rox." 

"Let go of me. I can walk, yeh bitch." I let go and took off after Mark and Jack. If my heart wasn't pounding enough already, running didn't help. Not to mention I couldn't hear the shouting from behind me over the sound of my own heart beating. "TY! RUUUUN!" I fucking bolted with my heart racing faster than my legs. Don't look back. Don't look back. She's fine just keep going. 

"Roxanne?! Are you okay?!" I turned my head to look back and screamed when I saw her running right next to me. "OH FUCK! Don't do that."

The car was in sight. Mark already was strapped in the back with Jack. He was helping him finish up the bottle and waiting for both of us to get in the car. "Keep going, Ty. I'm right behind you." I nodded and continued pushing forward. 

I skidded to a halt in front of the drivers seat. Roxanne rushed to the other side. I fumbled with my keys, trying to get them out of my pocket before I actually get in as usual. However, fate had different plans for me. I felt a hand push my arm down and around my back before my head was smashed onto the hood of my car. I gritted my teeth and struggled against the person holding me down. I dropped my keys on the ground and gestured Roxanne to them before I was thrust onto the ground. 

I looked down at my feet and found the key. My foot maneuvered toward the lock button and pushed the tip of my boot on the lock button to lock the car so that the guards wouldn't take them too. I then pushed the keys underneath the tire out of sight. Roxanne should be able to find them. 

"GET OUT OF THE CAR, MA'AM! UNLOCK THE DOORS!" I heard the officer shout. "DON'T MAKE ME CALL FOR BACKUP!" I can imagine Roxie saying something along the lines of "I'm starting to want you to." She'd say something like that. Because that's just who she is. 

I've got to do something. I thought for a moment until I heard a crack. From what I could see from my spot on the ground, an officer is trying to break my car window. "HEY!" That got their attention. "LEAVE THEM ALONE! I'M THE ONE YOU WANT, AND YOU'VE GOT ME! I WON'T PUT UP A FIGHT IF YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE RIGHT NOW!" Did that sound menacing enough? Was I convincing? 

"STOP TALKING! YOUR FRIENDS ARE INVOLVED WITH YOUR CRIME TOO! THEY HAVE TO COME WITH US!" Shit. How am I going to get the keys inside the car without anyone knowing? 

I stood up with a little bit of a struggle. I looked at Roxanne and quickly glanced at the tire where the keys were hidden. If she knew me as well as I hoped she does, she'd get the hint and take the opportunity. I took a deep breath and bolted as fast as I could with my hands tied behind my back. "HEY! GET BACK HERE! RUNNING FROM AN OFFICER IS A SECOND DEGREE OFFENSE!" 

"LIKE I CARE, YOU FUCKERS!" I cackled with laughter until I got to the road. A few cars sped past me and I almost lost my balance. I turned my head around to get a look at how far away the officers were from catching up with me and it looked like I was in trouble if I didn't cross the street as soon as possible. 

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" I glanced back at the street then the officer and took a deep breath. It's now or never. But the cars. There's too many. 

"Damnit. I'm sorry, guys. Shit." I collapsed to the ground, surrendering myself so that the others could get away. I felt a foot push my back. I fell onto my face once again and felt the officer push his boot into my back so that I wouldn't be able to get up again. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Mark sat me down in the backseat before he climbed in himself. I watched as Roxanne burst through the passenger side door and heaved her breath from running. "W-where's Ty?" My voice cracked out. A sudden thud sounded on the hood of the car. "Roxanne?" She peered back at us both with fear lacing her petrified face. 

"He's caught." 

"What do you mean, caught?" Mark practically shouted. 

"The guards caught him. And he's got the fucking keys." She paused for a second. "But he dropped them. And he's about to do something really stupid so that I can get them." The irritation in her voice could've been heard a mile away. 

An officer shouted something at the window. I couldn't quite make out what he was saying but Roxanne replied with a grumble, "I shouldn't have suggested this stupid trip." Right. Now the fucking law is involved. "And there he goes. Get ready guys. I'm going to grab the keys and then we're off. He's headed towards the main road so I'll see if I can get to him before they do." 

"We're already in trouble, Roxanne. There's no reason to get into even more trouble. I say we turn ourselves in." I took a deep gulp of the burning chemicals, letting it run down my throat. I didn't think Mark would suggest an idea like that but he did. 

"Are you crazy?! I can't go to jail again! Let's just get out of here and get Ty before he gets taken away." I heard the car door open slightly and an exasperated sigh from Roxie. "Alright. Let's get this show on the road. Literally and figuratively." With that she turned the key and ignited the engine then took off down the field towards the road. 

I sat quietly in the back with Mark because he was making sure I didn't stop drinking just to make sure I don't explode again. I had about half a bottle left and I could feel my body start to settle. Roxanne made a hard left to get on the main road. The more trees we passed, the more worried I got. We had no idea what's happening with Ty. He probably wouldn't run that far considering the handcuffs on his wrists, but there's a definite possibility that he made it to the main road. And that's when I caught a whiff of him. "TURN AROUND, ROXANNE! TURN AROUND!" I screamed. Mark was startled by my sudden outburst as I'm sure she was too. 

"Where is he?" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I caught it again but this time I tore the door open and ran out after him. I dropped onto all fours on instinct, following his scent back to the field where a few police cars were surrounding him. I scrambled up the slight hill and jumped over the hoods of the few cars that were in my way. Ty was lying on the ground unconscious with his back towards me. A few officers were staring at me. I could feel their gazes burning into my skin. 

"What did you do to him?" I tried to keep my cool, but something was telling me that something bad went down and that someone here was responsible. "What happened?!" A slight growl escaped my throat. 

"He was tasered because he tried to escape our custody."

"What gives you the right to bring him into custody in the first place, besides him trespassing on company property that he worked at?" 

"I'm sorry, lad. But who are you?" 

"Sean McLaughlin. His friend." I pointed to Ty. This guy was really testing my patience. But my question is, why haven't they tried to do the same with me as they did with Ty? I doubt I'd get a solid answer, but I'm curious. 

"How are you here? You died in the explosion. Tyson here, was a witness. And what happened to you? You don't match any descriptions or previous pictures of yourself." My teeth were gritted and I could feel my hands start to heat up. 

"Believe me. If I knew, I'd tell you." The other officers were starting to move closer to me. One with handcuffs and the other two with tasers. Regular officers wouldn't carry tasers. Jesus, who do these people think they are? "You aren't policemen, are you?" The three that were approaching me earlier jumped at me with fury burning in the eyes. I quickly dodged their attacks before picking Ty up and throwing him over my shoulder. "It was nice chatting with ya, laddies." I said as I saluted the officer who had been conversing with me. A smile crept onto my lips as I sped away down the street almost missing Ty's parked car.


	15. Back Issues

"Jack, what's wrong with Ty?" My head shot up to meet Mark's face. I pushed Ty into the back seat with Mark so that when he wakes up, Mark'll take care of him. I couldn't be sure but my body was practically shaking with energy and I needed to let it out somehow. Whether that meant leaving for a run or blowing up again, I wasn't entirely sure. 

"He's knocked out. Just make sure he gets filled in on what you two have done already or wh-" The sound of sirens rang in my ears. "You have to go. NOW!"

"B-but what about you, Jack?!" His words were said at a million miles per hour. What WAS I going to do? I didn't have anytime to think about it before I slammed the door and began to push the tiny car along the road until Roxanne got the idea and began to drive away. I turned to look at where the sirens were coming from. Five police cars were racing toward me. 

"Shit..." I turned-tail and headed into the forest on all fours. I didn't care at the moment how weird it felt to be running that way. All I wanted to do was find a way to get back to Ty's without getting caught by the cops. 

~•~•~•~•~

I awoke with the shake of my shoulders. And maybe a high-pitched scream too. Mostly because I remember being surrounded by four or five officers that were either holding tasers or batons. I held my chest and cringed at the rusted taste that lined the inside of my mouth. 

"Ty? Are you alright?" I nodded and sat up in the car seat with a cough that hurt my throat. 

"Oh my god. What happened?" I felt Mark slap my back before rubbing his hands between my shoulder blades. 

"Woah. What the hell happened to your back? Your shoulder blades are protruding out of it. The bones are literally poking out from under your skin. Did you get hurt?" He pressed into my shoulder blade making pain shoot up through my spine and muscles surrounding the joints. A cry escaped my lungs as tears sprung from my eyes. "Sorry sorry sorry. God, that looks bad. We may need to take you to a hospital. Roxanne, are we able to do that?" 

"I dunno. Is my bitch severely hurt? Or will he manage?" I grimaced at the soreness of my back. What the fuck happened while I was out? 

"It doesn't look like it. God damnit. His skin is starting to tear. Roxanne, drive. He's bleeding." A groan rattled my chest. Mark rubbed my back more, making sure to avoid the irritated area of my back. 

"WHAT?! Hold on! I'm gonna skip a few red lights." 

"Wait, Roxanne!" My side crashed into the seat behind me causing the pain in my back to flare up my spine. Mark pulled my torso closer to him so that my head laid in his lap. I pulled my elbow up so that it sat snug on top of my face but in doing that, it put my back in an uncomfortable position. "Fuck. Ty, are you okay?"

"No." My voice almost didn't even sound like my own because of the strain. 

"What do you think happened to cause this?" Roxanne asked curiously. 

"I d-don't know. But where the fuck did Sean go? W-wasn't he w-with you guys?" 

"All I know is that he took off running into the forest on all fours. I don't know where he is now. Hopefully at your house. I don't know." I closed my eyes and tried to stay as still as possible. "Was your back hurting in the past few days?" 

"Uh... I don't think... Right after I brought Jack into my car was when a mild itch started. I don't know. An-an ache started about three hours ago. Then just a few minutes ago was when it became unbearable." I hissed with pain as Mark adjusted my head in his lap. He whispered a few 'sorries' to himself or whatever. He didn't need to say anything. Based on his actions so far throughout this... friendship I know for a fact that he wouldn't intentionally hurt me or anyone for that matter. 

The rest of that trip to the hospital was mostly a blur. I only remember Mark screaming for me to stay with them but to be honest, I only blacked out because the pain was so great. After that, I have no idea if they made it or if I made it. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Uggghhhhh. What... happened?" I sat up in the bed. A beeping sound coming from beside me caused a slight panic to rush up my spine. I slouched over my body and tried very hard to open my eyes. But when I finally had the strength to open them, an overwhelming burning sensation travelled up my back causing it to arch and my eyes to open wide. I held my face in my shaking hands, trying to keep my whimpers and cries to myself. However, in doing that, it only made the pain worse than any torture I could think of. The shaking wouldn't stop. My breath wouldn't slow. The whimpers wouldn't stay in my chest. 

"Tyson?!...oh my god." I flopped back on the bed, holding my breath and hoping that nurse knew what to do about this torture. "We have a code A-7-6F in hanger 4 section 8." What the hell does that mean?!


	16. A-7-6F

I didn't cooperate with the nurses that were sent to contain me in the tiny hospital room. And now I'm paying the price by being strapped down onto the uncomfortable memory foam sheet on my stomach so that my back is exposed in case it decides to push out again. The original nurse explained about an hour after I was strapped down that they didn't know what was happening to me and that it was best that I didn't move as to not cause anymore friction between the bones that were now protruding from my back. I understood why they were doing this. I just didn't understand the actions they took in order to make this happen. 

"Mr. Penlough, there's someone here to speak with you." Unless she was talking about Mark, Jack or Roxanne, I didn't want to talk to them. 

"If I don't know them, they can leave." She seemed taken aback by my statement. 

"Well... they seem to you pretty well. Do you know, officer Diaz?" I furrowed my brow. The one that handcuffed me? No. Where have I heard his name before? 

"I'm not sure. Can you ask him where he knows me from?" She looked annoyingly down at her papers and read a few of the sheets that were clipped into her clipboard. 

"It says in my notes that he knows you from a place called The Tocsaineach Power Plant down in lower Wicklow about four and half hours ago. Do you recall this encounter?" I gulped and nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing down there? Didn't it blow up?" 

"I actually do mind. That's my business. You can send him in. But first..." She paused and waited. "Could you untie me and allow me to sit up? Just so that I'm not being rude?" 

"N-no. I can't. You were called under a code A-7-6F. I'm not allowed to even talk to you unless it involves results or conditions. Neither can any visitors unless they are here on business or something. I'm sorry. I know how uncomfortable you must be." Yeah fucking right, lady. Why don't you try being forced to lay on your stomach for three hours while a few doctors examine and run tests on your back. 

"Fine. Just send him in already." She hurried out of the room only to return a few seconds later with who I'm guessing is officer Diaz. I didn't recognize him in any way. However, considering four hours ago was ten o'clock at night and it was pretty dark, I doubt I'd be able to recognize the guy anyway. "Why are you here? I technically didn't do anything wrong. I trespassed onto company property, sure. But a company I worked for." He snickered and leant over to whisper something to the nurse. Her eyes grew wide and she glanced down at me before leaving quickly. "What'd you say to her?"

"Nothing, really. Just a little something that would make her leave us alone to talk. So, you obviously know about Tocsaineach's explosions and whatnot. Mostly because I know you were there. I watched the tapes back. And your friend... Sean better known as Jack. He was involved in the explosion... was he not? And your other friends. The punk Asian with dark brown or black hair that sat in your backseat with the girl up front. They were too. Weren't they?"

"Look, lad. I don't mean to be rude but what the fuck do expect me to say? You're obviously too far up your own arse to realize I wouldn't be here right now if you hadn't done something to my fucking back. And that I wasn't involved with the explosion and neither were my friends. They had nothing to do with happened at Tocsaineach's. Nothing!" He looked around and pulled up a chair. God this guy is such a fucking prick. I don't know if it's the way he shaved his head or something but damn was he just plain scary. 

"Sean, isn't human. Well, not anymore. As you may have figured out already. But we have reason to believe that he was the cause of the explosion. And in doing it, it changed him forever to look like a disease-ridden dog human hybrid when in reality he's a dangerous being that needs to be contained. And we have reason to believe you know where he is." That's what this is about?!

"Officer, if you wanted to talk about Sean, then why did you come after me instead of him?" 

"If I had done that, I wouldn't have been able to test a new experiment from the lab. And this is way more fun for me. You trying to escape my custody back in Tocsaineach was perfect for my plan." What the fuck is he talking about? Experiments? Plans? What the fuck?

"You aren't an officer, are you?" He chuckled lightly and I swear the room's temperature dropped a few degrees as his eyes burned into mine. "Sir, whoever you are, you better leave now before I call for help." He quickly got up and headed towards the door. I strained to listen to his thundering footsteps over my pounding heart since my line of vision was blocked by my unmoving body. I heard the door open and then felt something prick the skin just above my ankle. Was that a needle? "What the fuck?!" I struggled to see where he was and found no one. I could feel the area heat up where he had injected whatever into. 

"I wish you a pleasant stay and night, Tyson. Goodbye." 

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD! NURSE! NURSE!" I could feel the heat slowly traveling up my leg to my back then spreading out further along the middle of my back. I held back screams as a few nurses rushed in to answer my call for help. 

"Mr. Penlough, what happened?" I felt my back try to arch and struggle to stop shaking the rest of my body. 

"AH! That... man wasn't... an offic-cssssssssss..." I closed my eyes, blacking out from the unbearable pain once again. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

I waited impatiently outside Tyson's house, chewing on my fingernails. What happened when I left? I didn't get a chance to think about it before I heard the familiar engine of his car pulling up the long driveway. They were back. Finally. 

I ran down to them as they were getting out. The smile I had lowered as I realized Ty wasn't with them. "Where's Ty?" Roxanne looked at the ground with watery eyes and Mark just slammed the car door and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Guys?" 

"Ty's back was injured pretty badly so he's at the hospital right now." Oh. 

"Well get back in the car. I need to see him and talk to him." 

"Sean, we aren't allowed to. Apparently, when he woke up finally there was something very wrong and they issued a code A-7-6F. I don't know what that even means but one of the nurses escorted us both out before we could ask questions. That usually means we aren't allowed to see him." Mark replied softly. His back couldn't have been that bad that they issued a lockdown. Or maybe it was a toxicity thing. I did carry him on my back for about a minute. That's enough time to transfer some toxic chemical onto his clothes. Right?

"Shit. That's probably my fault." 

"How is that your fault, Jack?" 

"I think since I carried him, maybe some of the toxic chemicals that radiate off me constantly could've rubbed onto his clothing so they issued the lockdown in order to keep everyone safe. I don't know." Mark shook his head and Roxanne quickly rushed to the front door and pushed her key into the lock. "Mark, are you alright?" 

"Yeah, I just... don't know what I should do now. I was originally going back home yesterday but those plans changed drastically within about five hours of my flight. So I stuck around and helped out. Now I don't think I should leave yet. I don't know. I wasn't prepared for a two day trip." I nodded. That's understandable. 

"Mark, you can go home if you need or want to. No one's holding you here." His face flushed red and regret filled his eyes as he quickly glanced down at my feet before trudging up to the door.


	17. What Does it Say?

I could feel the bones in my back pushing through my skin even as I slept. I could feel all the pain caused by the surgeons cutting into my skin to try and remove the bone. I could feel the needle filled with an anesthetic to help numb the pain but it wasn't working. And no matter how hard I tried to scream, nothing would come out. Because I was asleep and I'd stay asleep until they were finished. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

I peeked between my eyelids, trying to open them fully but failing. I felt a hand on my shoulder as I adjusted my head on the pillow slightly. 

"Ty, you doing alright? Does your back hurt still?" I moved my arm back slightly. The pain that movement caused a hiss to escape my mouth. "I'll take that as a yes." I groaned and tried once again to open my eyes fully. "The nurse said you wouldn't be awake for another few hours due to the anesthesia and knock out they gave you before the surgery. Do you feel woozy or discombobulated?" Mark was sitting next to me with his hand on my arm rubbing his thumb in circles around my bicep. 

"If being woozy means seeing three heads instead of one and hearing three voices instead of one then yes. I'm very woozy." He mumbled 'shit' under his breath. "What?" 

"Uh. Nothing. I just don't think it's normal for someone to wake up half an hour after surgery s'all. And it doesn't really look like they did anything to your back. The bones are still bursting through your skin. Maybe even more." I gulped and started to sit up. "Woah woah woah. Ty, take it easy." 

"I'm trying. But this is really important." He let go of my shoulder and say back in his chair. "Ok. So you know that officer that cuffed me?" He nodded. "He visited me about..." I looked up at the clock. God, it's almost five. "...an hour ago. He interrogated me about what supposedly happened to Jack and Tocsaineach. He was trying to pin the blame on you, Rox, Jack and I. I don't think anything I said changed his mind. But that's besides the point. The point is that he started to talk about experiments and plans and shit like that. Then when I figured out he wasn't an officer, he stuck a needle in my ankle and injected me with something that made my back flare up with pain. Mark, something big is going on here and I really don't like the looks of how it's turning out. I don't know what he injected me with, and I don't know what he knows about Jack. I just hope whoever he is that he doesn't come here again." I took a deep breath and held it as I attempted to stand up on my shaking legs. 

"Should I stay here with you? Or do you want Roxanne or Jack to?" I glanced at him with drooping eyes. What is he implying? 

"I guess it's up to you, really. You don't have to stay. I didn't expect you to in the first place." I don't understand. Why is he even still here? Doesn't he have a job back home or a girlfriend that misses him terribly? Why did he stay after the hell he's been through? 

"Oh. Yeah. I guess I could stay a little longer. Plus, Jack's kinda unreliable at the moment." What the fuck does that mean?

"What do you mean?" 

"He's still getting used to everything. His body has finished what it needed. He's getting used to it back home." Home? My home? Or his?

"And by home you mean...?"

"Your... home." Ok. That's what I thought. His home is back in the city. Mine is more remote to be honest. He can train or whatever while he's there. There aren't that many people around. 

I closed my eyes hoping the searing headache would just leave me alone already. "Hughhhh... I don't feel good." 

"Well no shit. You just had surgery." I started coughing and gripped the bed so hard it caused my knuckles to turn whiter than usual. "Ty?" I coughed into my hand harder and harder. Then something unexpected happened. Mark got up and pushed slightly into my chest and ushered me to lay down. I shook my head. They say the easiest way to get your airways open is to stand and put your hands over your head. "Ty, stop fighting. Just lay down." 

"Mar- ACK! Stop. Ple-ease." He sat down in his chair once again. My throat settled after a few coughs. Luckily nothing severe was coughed up besides what I'm guessing was spit. "Argh. Íosa milis. Go chéasadh bhí." Mark stared at me confused. 

"What was that? Did you forget how to talk?" I chuckled at him freaking out. 

"No. Mark, that was Gaelic. You know, the Irish language that barely anyone uses anymore?" I cleared my throat after that. It felt a bit scratchy at the moment. 

"Oh. Well... What'd you say?" 

"I said 'Sweet Jesus. That was torture.' Nothing to worry about really-" I coughed again. 

"Why was that torture?" God he's looking at me with those eyes again. The ones that are full of concern... He'd make a great father one day. 

"Mostly because my back still hurts like a motherfucker and I was basically trying to breath and failing miserably. That's all really." He nodded as I laid back in the hospital bed. As uncomfortable as it was, I'm glad I'm getting help for my back. I don't know what the hell that man did to it but I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to figure it out until the last minute when the pain completely consumed me. 

Wait... how the fuck is he here? Didn't I get a code A1-6 something that made it impossible for me to have visitors? "Mark, how are you here?" 

"What do you mean, Ty? Your surgery went as planned and after, I came to see you because Jack insisted. Whatever happened to the code thing, I have no idea. All I know is that for some reason when I came back, you were allowed to have visitors again. That's literally all I know." Oh. I guess that makes sense. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Alright, Mr. Fischbach. You need to leave. I have his test results and I'd rather not involve someone he barely knows." I saw the hurt line his face. 

"Uh, Miss, I'd really appreciate if you let him stay. He is a friend and I'd rather have him know too instead of just me." He smiled at me. 

"Oh. Well. Um. Okay." She flipped her chart several times before stopping on the one she needed. Confusion shown in the creases of her wrinkles. She glanced at me then back at her chart. "There must be a mistake. I'm going to ta-"

"What do you mean mistake? What does it say?" She stand there switching who she looked at while trying to figure out the words that she wanted to say. "Miss, please. What does it say?"


	18. The Channel

"I'm sorry. Mr. Penlough. The results of your test don't make any sense. I'm going to go double check with the machine." I sighed loudly. This nurse wasn't making it easy at all. 

"Miss, I'd really appreciate you read what it says. Please." She thought for a moment and then sighed before turning to the right results. "And if it makes you feel better, you can just tell me." I turned to Mark and saw his face fall. "Mark, it's okay."

"Alright. Just call me back in when you finish." He got up from his seat and solemnly left the room. I watched the nurse let out a breath that she'd been holding. 

"They don't make sense. I need to attend to other people, Mr. Penlough. I'll make sure I get one of the doctors to check your results so that you can have the most accurate answer. But for now I need to leave." I don't have the energy to fight with anyone. It's best if I just let her leave. 

"Ok. Fine. But you have to tell me next time. I won't take no for an answer." As stubborn as she may be, she probably knows what's best. And for all I know, she could've been hiding something ridiculous like it saying that I have chicken wings in my back. Whatever it was, I hope it wasn't somewhat accurate. If that's the case then I must be screwed. 

Mark practically knocked the nurse over as he entered the room. I looked down and chuckled a bit under my breath. 

"What'd she say? Is it bad? Was it bad or was it good?" I peered up at him. His hands are shaking slightly. It's barely noticeable until you do notice it. He's worried. 

"You can calm down, Mark." Should I tell him? That I let her go? Or should I make something up to make him calm down? The more I stared at him, the more worried he got. Should I stop his worrying? Or continue it in hopes that the results change? I don't know. "I..."

"It's bad isn't it?" 

"No. I... It said that I was perfectly fine. Beyond perfect. I guess that's why it didn't make sense to her." I feel bad for lying to him. He doesn't deserve that. But he also doesn't deserve to bear the worry that I've inflicted on everyone here. God I hope this doesn't backfire on me. That'd fucking suck. 

His hands and brow relaxed and he went to sit down. Thankfully he didn't ask any more questions. I don't know what I would've told him. Because I'm obviously not in perfect condition. The flaring pain in my back was becoming worse with every second. But I couldn't do anything to stop it except wait it out and hope for the best. He knows I'm not in perfect condition either. He knows I'm in pain. He understands thankfully. I lay down on my stomach with my face towards the window, watching the clouds roll by growing bigger and bigger as I wait here. 

Mark broke the disturbing silence with something I should've been thinking about. "Roxanne called while I was out in the hallway. She said and I quote Jack had fallen asleep in a tree and he fell out of it after having his dick squished between his body and the branch. Does she always make things sound funny?" 

"You have no idea. This is just the start of it. If you break your skull in her presence, she'll have already created four hundred different jokes around your injury after about thirty seconds. Then if it's bad enough, she'll exit comedian mode and crash into mother mode without a second thought. She's by far the most confusing person I've ever met. But that's what makes her so unique. She can make you smile after you are hurt no matter what kind of hurt you're experiencing. That's a gift that not many people have." Silence. I can feel his eyes staring at the back of my head. 

"Do you love her?" 

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I? I've known her almost as long as I've known Jack. We're better than best mates. The relationship that we have is stronger than that. Like that of a sibling's bond. But it feels kind of wrong to say it like that. I don't know. You know what I mean though, right?"

"I know what you mean. But do you know what I mean?" 

"No. You asked me if I loved her. I said I did. Is there any other meaning than that?"

"Yeah. It's called you want to spend the rest of your life with her kind of love. Do you love her?" I... don't... There's no way. 

"No. Not like that. I'm sure someday she'll find someone that'll love her like that. But I know that I don't. Why are you asking me this anyway?" 

"No reason. Just the amount of emotion that flowed with your words when you were describing her made me a little suspicious. Nothing serious." Good. You shouldn't ask questions like that until you really get to know me. Or maybe that's exactly what he was trying to do. 

~•~•~•~•~

"Jack, what're you doing up there?" I blinked my eyes trying to adjust to the shade as I realized I had fallen asleep on one of the branches of a tree. "You alright?" 

"Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. I'm not sure how I got up here. Do you have a ladder?" I sat up and stretched while making sure I wouldn't tip over and fall to the ground by securing my legs around the base of the branch. 

I carefully began to stand up. It was much harder than I previously thought. I don't know if it was because I had just woken up or if I was just dizzy. Nonetheless, I doubt the outcome would've been much different. My foot slipped and I fell crotch first onto the branch then off the side onto my back into the dead leaves. "Jack!" I groaned and held my crotch. 

"Ow." I whispered. Who knew branches were so dangerous when all they do is sway in the wind and fall every now and then during a big storm. Roxanne crouched beside me and tried to help me up. "Rox I can get up on my own." But the thing is, I should've taken her hand. Then my face wouldn't be face down in the dirt. "Fuck."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" She chuckled a bit. I for one wasn't in a laughing mood. All I wanted to do was relax and hopefully play some video games. I sat up and dusted off my shorts. It's decently chilly out here. I wonder why I'm not wearing a shirt of any kind. "Aren't you cold?" I looked up at her and began to stand up once again. This time I held onto her shoulder as to not face plant... again. 

"I don't really know. I definitely feel the chill. It's just not... cold. I don't know. Can we just go inside now?" She nodded and pulled me closer to her as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders to help me balance. 

"Yeah. The weather isn't going to get much nicer than this, as always." I snorted and glanced up at the sky. Cloud coverage at almost a hundred percent. It looks like it might rain. But then again, you can never be too sure. 

"That's Ireland for you. Mostly cloudy and rainy." I stated and walked along with her to the front door where a comforting warmth awaited inside. 

"I've got to call Mark and tell him about this. You don't mind do you?" I shake my head and plop my aching butt onto the couch ready to just relax and do nothing productive all day. But, I haven't not been productive in almost two years. The channel...


	19. Dumplings

"And Jack was like 'The fight isn't that way. It's this way.' Then proceeded to lead me to where everyone else was. I remember that day so clearly. I ended up spending the night at his house passed out on his couch with nothing but a knitted blanket that his gran knit for him. I remember after that day I went over to his house only one other time in the whole school year. It was always him coming over to mine." I remember when I found out about his mom calling him Jack instead of Sean. Then how he got hit with a ball to the eye. I smiled at the memories that flooded my head. I teased him about that for as long as I can remember knowing his nickname. 

"Question," Mark asked. I nodded. "Were you the one that called him jacksepticeye for a month?" My face flushed a deep red. How did he know that? 

"How do you know about that?" He seemed confused. Almost like I should know what he's talking about. 

"You do know what he does for a living, right?" I nodded. 

"Of course. He records himself playing games for the people that watch his content. Why?" 

"His gamer tag. It's jacksepticeye." He remembered? Why did I think that he wouldn't remember that? 

"Wh-why would he put that as his gamer tag? It was just some joke I made up about his infected eye." I laughed and messed with my hair a bit. 

"I don't know. You'd have to ask him yourself... You- what did you do for a living?" I stopped smiling. Why did he have bring this up now? 

"I uhhhhhh... I was a mechanical engineer for the Tocsaineach power plant. It was a miracle I even got an interview. I still to this day have no idea why the board chose an inexperienced-straight-out-of-college-student such as myself to represent the engineering department in section H with Henry Olkers as my 'boss'." I put air quotes around boss because technically he was my supervisor. Not boss. "Henry never shut up about him wanting me to change my station. It was almost like he hated me with a burning passion. I feel kind of bad because I told him he could die in a fire when I last talked to him. And he... did." I don't feel bad because he died. I feel bad because I never truly got to know him for who he was because he never gave me a chance. Sure I had spoken out of turn a few times because he insulted me but I gave him plenty of chances to change his attitude towards me. Either he hated his job that much or I was a fucking burden to him. 

"God that must've been rough. Did you ever think about changing stations or finding another job?" I shook my head slowly. It still hurt my back but at least I could somewhat control how much pain I would feel. 

"No. You try having a job that supports your kind of lifestyle and having insurance that could potentially pass down onto your children. Then having to deal with one asshole at work and having almost no idea of what it is that you should actually be doing every single day for the next three years of your life. You try letting that stability go. Then you can answer your question." I was a bit harsh wasn't I. I should apologize. He looks almost hurt. "I-I'm sorry. I..." 

"It's alright. I get it. Don't worry." What the fuck did Jack do to have such an understanding friend? He must've sold his soul to the devil or something. Or traded his humanity for... t-that's not funny. 

~•~•~•~•~

"Prepare to be amazed... Chicken and dumplings. My moms recipe." I've heard more than I'd like to admit about these fucking dumplings. Whenever something reminds Mark of his cooking in one of the games he plays, he'll almost immediately starts talking about the dumplings. It's always the dumplings. "What?" 

"You do realize that you literally do not shut up about these. These better be as good as you make them seem, Mark. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to call you out." He chuckled a bit before placing the steaming pot in the center of the wooden dining table. Sadly, Ty's still at the hospital so he wouldn't have been able to join us. 

"Well, I like to... uh... just eat damnit. Enjoy it." I nodded. Then I stabbed my fork through a motherfucking dumpling. It was a lot harder than I thought it was to actually pick it out of the pot and drop it into my bowl due to how soft it was. "Here." He handed me an oversized serving spoon. 

"Thanks." I scooped up some food and plopped it into my bowl ready to dig in after a seemingly endless day. My fork glided into a dumpling and made its way to my mouth. But, I didn't chew. I didn't even breathe. Whatever was inside my mouth, did not taste like a dumpling. It tasted horrible. Worse than I would've thought. And me being as hungry as I am, I don't say or do anything in fear of throwing up or saying something that would hurt Mark's feelings. 

"Jack? Are you alright?" I nodded slowly and swallowed the un-chewed food. "Jack?! You're going to choke!" I tilted my head back and swallowed everything. Mark scrambled around the table to where I was sitting. 

"Mark... I'm fi-" no, I'm not. Not anymore. The burning in my stomach burst up my throat and onto my lap. 

"SEAN!" I closed my eyes and abruptly stood up to leave the room. "Sean?! Are you alright?" Mark yelled after me. 

"... No." I practically sprinted to the bathroom and emptied the rest of the fire in my stomach into the toilet. "oh fuuu-" Just my luck. I honestly wonder what other foods I can't eat anymore. 

"Jack!" Mark burst through the halfway closed door to see me hunched over the toilet while gripping my shirt as tightly as I could and letting out groans that would make any man shiver. "Fuck. It was the dumplings, wasn't it?" 

I let out another wretch before nodding and going back to the torture my stomach was giving me.

"God damnit, Jack. Why didn't you say anything?" 

"I didn't know, Mark. I haven't eaten anything in like two days. I was hungry so I ate. But now..." I rubbed my stomach in a slow circular motion. "I don't know what I can eat. Or what I can drink." 

"Do-do you want to test foods that you liked before all this happened?" I cringed and wretched once again. God, this mine as well be what hell feels like. But I think I might already know what it feels like. 

"Yeah. I think it's best to check everything."


	20. If Donkeys Fly

"Okay. Let's try something else. Like..." Mark rushed over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. "This." Beer? Why... beer? I doubt it'll taste any better than coffee. 

"Ok. Fine." I practically snatched the bottle out of his hand and examined its scent. It smelled okay. It was kind of subtle and a little sweet but other than that, fine. Just, fine. "Smells okay I guess." I brought it to my lips almost afraid that it'll taste of dirt like the coffee and dumplings. The cold liquid splashed down my throat causing the same nasty taste to explode in my mouth. I coughed and spit the foul tasting liquid out into the sink. It wasn't as bad as the other things but still bitter and just unsavory. "Doesn't taste as bad as the other things but still extremely disgusting and I almost wish I would just throw up to get this taste out of my mouth." 

"I guess your tastebuds are a bit dull now that you've discovered toxic waste." No shit, Sherlock. 

"Should... we try something like... Toxic Waste?" 

"You mean like bleach? Or actual toxic waste candy?" There's a candy called toxic waste? I wonder what that would taste like. Hopefully not like actual waste. "Yeah I'll go see if there's something more edible or drinkable." 

"Red bull, monster, whiskey,... moonshine? Any of those sound like they might work?" He shrugged before opening the fridge once again. I waited patiently at the table with my feet crossed in my lap on the chair. Mark slid back with a monster and a bottle of vodka. I immediately grabbed for the bottle. 

"Really? You default pick alcohol over energy drinks? You're really that Irish?!" He burst out laughing as I rolled my eyes and down almost half the bottle before I realize it actually doesn't taste bad. When I realize this I swallow some but it goes down the wrong tube and I start to choke. 

"ACK! Jesus, Mark! Just because I like to drink doesn't mean I'm a fucking stereotype!" I coughed into my sleeve a few more times after shouting at him. "But now I think I might become one." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" I furrowed my brow. 

"The vodka doesn't taste that bad. It feels good going down my throat." 

"You're kidding right?" His eyes lit up and a smile bigger than the fucking sun shined through his lips as the delight sunk in. "You're going to be a drunk Irishman all the time now..." He practically squealed. I swear this boy needs to calm down. 

"Jesus, calm your tits, Mark. It's nothing to get excited over. So what? I can drink vodka. What's so great about that?" I mean like, I could already drink vodka before this happened.

"Well, we found something you like." True. I wonder what else will taste okay. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

"Mr. Penlough, I'm going to have to ask you to stay still while I adjust your back brace." I squirmed under her cold hands rubbing underneath the stupid brace that was supposed to help ease the pain. It's done nothing but stretch out my spine and cause me to sleep in uncomfortable positions the entire night. 

"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. The brace isn't helping like you said it should. I feel nothing but pain all in my spine and back now thanks to this stupid brace. Could you just take it off?" She chuckled before carefully peeling the Velcro between the two ends. 

"If something doesn't feel right after an hour, please ring me. I'll take a few tests to see what's wrong." I nodded and laid still on my stomach waiting for her to leave. These last few hours were probably the most painful in my short life. And it's almost scary to say that I've almost become accustomed to the pain I was feeling. Because the medication they were giving me wasn't doing shit to help. 

~•~•~•~•~

I fell asleep not long after breakfast. The nurse said I should get some rest before they release me from the hospital. I don't know why they decided I was fit enough to leave but to be fair, I wasn't exactly the nicest patient in the world. And I wasn't exactly being a sensible patient either. 

People always say that being in the hospital is supposed to make you feel weak after a few hours due to whatever illness or something. The funny thing is, I feel like I could jump off a building and not die from the impact. 

"Mr. Penlough? You've got a visiter. He says you've been expecting him for some time and that he wanted to make sure you were alright." Jack? 

"O-okay. Did he say his name?" 

"Sean. He said it was Sean." Jack. 

"Okay. Send him in." I smiled before closing my eyes and sighing with relief. I heard the door close softly. "Jack, I-" As soon as I caught a glimpse of his face, I felt an overwhelming amount of fear rush over my body, freezing my limbs in place. "You." 

"Me, Mr. Penlough. Me." He smiled maliciously before smashing his hand onto the side of my head to hold it down. Then he plunged another needle into my back, right below my shoulder blade, barely missing the bone. 

"GET OFF YOU FUCKTARD! GET THE FUCK OFF! NURSE! HELP!" I felt his grip falter for a second so I took my chance and punched his arm away. I stood up from my bed ready to sink my knuckles into his jaw. "This is the last time you fuck around with me, Diaz. I won't allow yo-" I could've sworn I wasn't in so much pain before. "Arghhhh n-no more." No more playing around.

"No more what, Ty? No more fooling around? No more fighting against me? No more hiding your friends? What?" In going to break his jaw once I finish taking in all the pain. Then we'll see who's the smartass when he can't even speak. I stumbled back, gripping the steel bed frame between my fingers. 

"You're going to pay for using MY FRIENDS NAME TO GET IN HERE!" His name isn't actually Sean, is it? No time to ask. He lunged at me, catching me off-guard. We struggled for a good thirty seconds before we found ourselves infront of the window. 

"Let's see if donkeys fly, shall we?" What kind of phrase is that? Isn't it 'when pigs fly?' Then before I could comprehend what was about to happen, the window cracked and broke. And I caught a glimpse of the nurse's horrified face as she realized what happened as well. I'm going to die because there was no one there to catch me.


	21. Angel

"What do you mean, he... flew? Is that even possible?" Mark, you're not making any sense. There's no way in hell. 

"You're asking if flying is impossible after you survived a six story fall into an ass-ton of toxic waste before basically rising from the grave and told the story... Don't you think that's a bit-" 

"Alright I get it. But, how? He never went through whatever the fuck I went through. How could he suddenly just... fly?" 

"I don't know. The nurse that was taking care of him said that he took that officer out the window with him and then they fell. But Ty didn't just fall..."

"He... flew. Mark, you know what this means, right?" It means that whatever happened to cause this might've had something to do with me. And I'm not ready to accept the fact that I might've just ruined my friends life by making him able to do impossible things. 

"No. I don't know what this... What does it mean?" 

"I might have something to do with this. I mean, I became this whatever I am because my body wasn't ready to give up. What if I've infected Ty with the same type of thing? Since he apparently would've died if he hadn't started to fly. What if that's what happened to his back?" 

"What do you mean? His back had nothing to do with it." I don't know. But would it be possible that his back was fucked up because his body was trying to release something that would allow him to fly? 

"I don't know. You should see if you can get a look at his results from the nurse. We could have our answer in there." 

"The nurse said that he was perfectly fine. Which he's obviously not. But he said that that was what the file stated which was why she went to get a double check." Wouldn't they've already double checked if they already published the results as to not waste time or paper? 

"Are you sure?" Mark nodded and sat back in his chair running his hands through his long hair. He should get it cut soon. "Okay. We should still get a look at them just to make sure." He nodded a gain before taking a deep breath and standing up. 

"Are you coming with? Or do you want to stay here? Roxanne should be back soon." I shook my head. I wanted to help. And I couldn't help if I was stuck in Ty's kitchen. 

"No. I'm coming. I've just got to find a way to hide... this." I motioned in front of my face. "I don't think people would appreciate someone looking the way I do even though I can't exactly help it. I don't want to scare anyone. So just let me get changed and ready." I grunted and trudged up the stairs to Ty's room. He'd let me have one of his jackets and hats. But sadly his feet aren't the same size as mine. I don't mind walking around barefoot. I already did enough walking around outside with no shoes that it doesn't bother me anymore. 

I pulled out one of his many jackets. It was a button down trench coat. Not a jacket. Good enough. Now about a hat. I rummaged through his closet pulling out coat after jacket after dress shirt. Does he not have any hats at all? Who doesn't have hats? He doesn't have enough hair on his head to keep his head warm. Where does he put them?

Downstairs in his other closet. Damnit. I pulled the coat over my shoulders and twisted the collar up so that it hid most of my face. 

The stairs were warmer than I thought they'd be. Mark stares down at my feet looking concerned. "Don't you have any shoes?" 

"Uh... No. I'm fine walking around barefoot, Mark." He still looked concerned. "Honestly. Here look." I walked across the floor in long confident steps before opening the door and letting the cool crisp air in. "Look." I placed my heel into the dirt and stepped off the door step. Mark stared curiously at them while I walked around a bit. I then lifted my foot up for him to examine. 

"I see blood. You're getting shoes." 

"Aww come on, Mark. It doesn't hurt. And are you sure that's blood and not mud or something?" I whined. I really didn't want to put shoes on. It's not worth it if I'm just going to take them off again. 

"Jack, please." Fine. I trudged back inside and found a pair of flip flops that should suffice for now. "Thank you." I scoffed and brushed past him to get to the car. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

This isn't normal. The pain shouldn't be this unbearable. The air shouldn't be whipping against my chest and exposing my junk to the world below. Wind doesn't go up, does it? 

"You son of a bitch, Ty! THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO WORK! NOW IT WON'T!" 

"W-WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Then I realized why I couldn't hear him that well. We were falling. Extremely fast. "AHHHHHHHH TIARNA DÉAN TRÓCAIRE! CÉN FÁTH ANOIS?!" 

"TYSON, CALM DOWN! YOU'RE GOING TO BE FINE! I on the other hand..." I felt something burst out from under my skin in my back. I screamed and felt tears run down my face as I felt myself slowly start to stop falling. 

"CAD É AN AG FUCK AR SIÚL?!" I screamed once again. I doubt I'd be able to hear his response anyway. 

I watched his eyes light up and close as he smiled. The tears in my eyes slowly started to stop until I felt the ground beneath my feet. They didn't hurt and I felt like I was as light as a feather. But as for Diaz, I'm not so sure. He's dead. Just dead... 

There were several people staring at me. I guess because I survived a thirty story fall. Or because my hospital gown came off about ten stories above me. Or... the fact that I'm hovering five feet off the ground with no idea how. 

"Have you come from the heavens above to save us?!" A random lady yelled at me. I glanced over at her confused. "Is it time to give ourselves to our lord and saviour Jesus Christ?!" I blinked twice before catching something in my eye. 

Feathers. White... feathers. Oh god. She thinks I'm an angel. I froze and started heaving. My knees crashed to the ground as I spilled my guts out all over the sidewalk.


	22. Saoirse

Mark left me in the hallway to go look at the first and last result papers with Ty's nurse. I was stuck here sitting next to a little girl that couldn't stop squirming in her chair. She kept poking my arm. I didn't pay attention to her and lifted my collar up further to cover more of my face. Before I could protest, the little girl snatched the hat off my head revealing my insane hair and ears. 

"Why are your ears like that, mister?" I stared wide eyed at this what I presumed was a five year old. She cocked her head to side with curiosity burning into my brain. 

"I... uh. Look, lass. I need that hat. So could I have it back?" I watched her little head shake back and forth as she giggled with joy. I groaned in annoyance but smiled a bit at the little girl. "Lass, please? People can't see me like this. Please." 

"Why not? Is it because you're a freak?" Harsh. But true. 

"Well... n-"

"You're such a liar, mister. You don't want people to see your ears because you'd be a freak in their eyes. But what made your ears like that?" And just like that, I was again in the presence of someone much more aware than myself. 

"A horrible accident that has led many of my friends and family to believe that I am no longer with them." I sighed and began instinctively fidgeting with my fingers. How was I supposed to get this fucking toddler to give me my hat?

"They think you're dead? Why don't you tell them you're still here? Why not give them back what they've lost? I know I'd want someone I love to come to me if they haven't passed yet. Like my parents. I want them to come back to me. They were in an accident like you." My heart stopped. This little girl is here for her dying parents and I'm just sitting here trying to not get pissed off at her. She talks like she's way older. And she's got more sense than most five year olds I've seen. Is she even five? 

"I doubt they were in a similar accident to that of my own. And the reason I don't tell my family and friends that I'm still alive is because of what the accident did to me." Her smile faded shortly after the realization hit her. 

"Well, I think you look beautiful just the way you are now. And I bet you didn't look half as good as you do now before the accident. Sure people will think you're a freak but who really cares what those people think? I like you. That's got to count for something. Right?" Where the fuck is this kid going to school? They're doing a fantastic job. Someone deserves a promotion. 

My heart melted right there. I could feel the warmth start to surround me as her words echoed throughout my head. "Don't ever change, lass. Those words you're speaking are going to take you places when you grow up." Kindness is always rewarded. She grasped my hand and plopped my hat on top of my hair. I leaned towards her and smiled brightly as she giggled and jumped more. 

"I'll try not to change too much so that I can do amazing things like you someday, mister Jack. I know how many people look up to you after only having done what you've been doing for a little over two years. I hope one day I'll be as well known as you so that I can visit places." Is this kid wearing some sort of high tech contacts that are able to analyze fingerprints or something? I hardly recognize myself when I look in the mirror. How could she tell? And why the fuck would her parents allow her to watch me in the first place? 

"H-how d-"

"Your voice is exactly like a man's voice I watch on YouTube. If you're not him, I'm sorry for confusing you. But you wouldn't happen to be jacksepticeye, would you?" 

"Yeah. That's me. And aren't you a little young to be watching me?" She stopped bouncing and stared me dead in the eyes. 

"Who are you calling young? I am seven and a half years old, mister Jack. I'll have you know that I've gotten top of my class two years in a row and won national vocabulary bee every year since I was four. I bet I know more words than you do." My eyes widened. I might be sitting next to the next big scientist or mathematician. Maybe even lawyer if she tries hard enough. 

"Really? Try me." I'm up for a challenge. At least until Mark gets back. 

"Okay. What does the word... abscond mean?" 

"Uh... isn't that like to run away or something?" She giggled and nodded before urging me on to ask her one. "Okay. What does cogent mean?" 

"To be powerfully persuasive. Come on. Give me hard one!" The excitement and undeniable passion coating her eyes was almost contagious. Like laughter. 

"Obstreperous. Define obstreperous." 

"Oh. That is hard. But I remember from last year. It means noisily or stubbornly defiant. Like how most kids my age are." Holy shit this kid's smart. It took me forever to figure that one out. "You define phlegmatic. Do it. Do it." I smiled and glanced down at my hands before slightly chuckling and giving her what she wanted. 

"It means to show very little amounts of emotion. Now you define preclude." She paused for a moment thinking about it I presume. 

"Is that what your situation is? Preclude?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Well preclude means to make impossible. I'm asking if your situation is becoming impossible?" Is it? I don't think it is. I can just deal with what I am now. But there's also the case of someone finding out who and what I am. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing yet. But from what Ty told Mark before he went back to Ty's house, there could possibly be people out there who want to exploit my abilities whatever they may be. 

"You're too smart for your own good, you know that?" She chuckled once again before nodding and grabbing my hand. 

"I have a great teacher." I hope she doesn't mean me. I'm no teacher. "You've taught me a great number of things. But my aunt has taught me more things about knowledge and the power of education. You've taught me to love who I am and who I might become. You taught me to not be afraid of the future and I'm thanking you for that. Not many kids these days have someone in their lives that can teach them the things they need to know as they grow up." Her voice cracked as she spoke those alarming words. I didn't even know anyone could use so much emotion without breaking down crying or saying something they might regret. 

"Who are you?" I said without thinking. She froze and looked down at her lap. 

"I'm Saoirse McDonelle. Saoirse means freedom in Gaelic so I've been told. I'm not very good at Gaelic but I'm hoping someday I'll learn the language fully." Jeez. Don't get your hopes up. Barely anyone speaks it anymore. You'll hear snippets of the language here and there but it's not like anyone actually can speak it fluently. The only person I know that can fluently speak it is Ty. "I know that barely anyone knows it fluently anymore, but I would really like to know it so that I'm completely capable of understanding everyone on this island. Then when I'm finished with that, I'll learn more." 

"Saoirse, learning Gaelic is going to take a while since not many people know it fluently. I can maybe find someone who can help you. But he's kind of off the grid at the moment. And not to be judgmental or anything, but why do you want to learn so much at such a young age?" 

"Because I've known for a few days now that if my parents don't make it, I'm not going to have parental guidance anymore. And though my aunt may be smart, she's not smart enough to give me the guidance that I'll need sadly. Plus knowledge is power." Oh my god, she is too smart for her own good. 

"Look. I don't really know that much about what you're going through, but I can tell you that no matter what, you shouldn't burden yourself with so much knowledge before your brain is even capable of holding that information without spilling over. Please don't give up your childhood just so that you can be ready for when your parents are gone. Your childhood is supposed to be filled with happiness and doing stupid things that will most likely make you laugh when you're old-" Mark came running down the hall trying to shout something at me. 

"JACK...! You've got... to see this!" Saoirse glanced back and forth between Mark and I. I stood up and ran the rest of the way to him. I didn't care that my hat flew off my head and the collar no longer stood up straight to cover what little of my face it actually covered anyway. I didn't care if anyone was afraid of me or if they called someone to contain me before I could kill them. I didn't care because Ty needs my help whether he could've asked if not. 

Mark was holding a tan file in his hand. His heart was racing in his chest as he read the small words printed on the seemingly endless list of results. "Jack. Ty lied to me." He wouldn't lie unless he felt that he needed to. 

"Mister Jack? You dropped your hat." I turned around to see Saoirse standing there with her fingers clutching the brim of the hat. I blinked once. Then twice before taking the hat and looking back at Mark who was staring wide eyed at the innocent little Saoirse.


	23. Calm and Steady

Of the things I currently feel, the curiosity burning in my brain stands out the most. Why would he lie like that to Mark? I mean I get that he doesn't exactly know him that well. But this was about his health. "Nurse, what did you tell him? Because he didn't say anything about this." Marks voice startled me after the overwhelming silence in the hallway. 

"I told him that I should go double check since it's not possible for his bones to be formed that way in his back. I made sure that nothing was wrong. And then when I was walking into his room, the window was broken and he was falling with that Sean Diaz man. Then he just stopped falling and screamed so loud I was afraid the whole building's windows was going to shatter. I covered my ears and ran down the steps in the hospital to get outside. I didn't see him leave." Well we already knew that he flew. That was proved right after a video of him was posted on Facebook and Instagram. He went viral not even half an hour later. 

What I don't understand is how this happened. He never had problems with his back until I showed up the way I am at that café near Tocsaineach. This was my fault, wasn't it? The radiation I now naturally give off must of fucked up his back. 

"Mark, you don't think it was something to do with m-" 

"No. It wasn't you." He stood there staring at the results in his hands skimming them and double checking them. Making sure they made sense. "It was Diaz. Remember how I said Ty was creeped out by Diaz stabbing him with a syringe that made his back flare with pain? Diaz must've injected him with something to give him those... wings." But why? Why give him some type of unnatural ability if you need him to cooperate or whatever? 

"But... why?" Mark glanced up at me with fear glittering in his eyes. I could smell the pungent odor of sweat coming from his direction. I'd be afraid too. We know that there are people out there that have the power and resources to conduct these types of experiments now. What we don't know is what the hell they want with Ty or myself. 

"Because you should've died when you fell, Jack. And so should've Tyson." I stumbled backwards almost knocking into the line of chairs lined up next to the wall. My back hit the wall and I started breathing heavily. I felt my chest constrict itself making it exceptionally hard to take in another deep breath. 

"Oh sweet baby Jesus." I rested my hands on my knees watching the pulse of my blood rush smoothly underneath the translucent skin on my hands. "Mark, what are we supposed to do?" The panic I could feel suddenly skyrocketed as tears began to form in the corners of my eyes. Breathing wasn't a problem anymore. 

I slowly looked up at Mark with what I assumed was depressingly fearful eyes. I wiped away the few tears that escaped my control. I could feel Saoirse staring at us. She doesn't need to worry about us. I hope she doesn't get involved. She's got her parents to worry about. 

"I don't know. But we have to find Ty." I nodded and pushed myself off the wall sniffing the remainder of my panic away to the back of my throat where it belongs. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

My vision was clouded in white. I couldn't see past the fog in order to catch my bearings. I know I'm somehow above the ground with wind whipping past my face and chest. And I know I somehow have the ability to fly. Or this is all just a dream and I'll wake up with a fan in my face and lying in my bed of fluffy clouds. I hope I am just dreaming. 

Blind and afraid, I keep to the air trusting my instincts that they'll bring me back home before I wake up. 

Twenty minutes pass. No, fifteen minutes. Thirty? I don't know. It could've been an hour for all I know. It's weird and unnerving knowing I can't see for the life of me. 

Where am I?

Who am I? 

What... am I? 

How am I still here? 

Why? 

"Ty?!" The wind has slowed to an almost complete stop and its moderately cold wherever I am. And that voice holds a special place in my heart. 

"Roxanne? I can't see where you are... Where am I? Am I dead? Mom?" I felt hands run up my neck and rest on my cheeks. "Roxy please. I'm fine. I think. Actually n-" I felt cold chapped skin against my cheek. What is happening? A sudden burst of hot air shot down my cheek. Was that breath? What the fuck? 

I wasn't even standing on the ground yet. I couldn't feel solid ground beneath my feet. For some reason, I was holding my breath and from what I understood, this could be a kiss. But I don't know what else it could be. A muffled cry rattled my thoughts as she released me from her hard grasp. 

Then everything around exploded with clarity. The fog disappeared. And I saw my mother standing there smiling and clutching my hands between hers. I watched as the morphed together. Somehow I wasn't afraid or startled. It was oddly relaxing. 

Then I heard the muffled cry again. Though this time it was louder and more clear. Whoever was shouting was calling a similar name to that of my own. I don't know a Tyron. 

"FÁG MÉ AR M'AONAR! NACH BHFUIL TÚ MO MAM!" I broke down crying and felt the cold earth smash into my feet and knees. And a silent rage became a deafening roar. "WAHHHHHHHHHHH-AH-AH-AHHHHhhhhhhhh! Nach bhfuil tú mo mam. Mo mam." My arms lay limp at my side as I stare up at the sky. "NACH BHFUIL TÚ MO MAM!" 

"Ty, I know I'm not your mom. I'm me. Roxanne. I'm your friend." I felt warm arms wrap tightly around my shivering body. "Calm and steady the beat of your heart goes, Ty. Focus on the breathing you feel in your chest as the air leaves and returns with each beat of the rhythm in your heart." I feel the feeling in my legs and my vision return to normal. I'm not dreaming. Not anymore. 

"Tá brón orm má scanraithe mé tú. Scanraithe mé mé féin ann le haghaidh an dara. Níl mé ag brionglóideach, Roxanne." I sighed loudly and weakly raised my arms to embrace her the same way she was doing with me. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She sniffed and squeezed tighter.


	24. A New Side Of Reality

I ran swiftly down the winding halls trying to reach the front door before something unexpected happens. The sound of Marks thundering footsteps trailing behind were enough to assure he was following. 

"JACK! WAIT! ROXANNE IS FINE! SLOW DOWN PLEASE?!" Hell to the no. We don't know if Ty is dangerous. We don't know what happened to him. We don't know anything except for the fact that he's got huge wings that apparently allow him to fly. We don't know if the fucking thing that that officer guy injected him with would alter his personality or cause any type of hallucinations that could possibly lead to someone's death. We don't know. And that's what scares me. "JACK PLEASE!" 

"I'm sorry, Mark. But if you can't keep up, I'm going to have to leave you behind and get there myself before you." I could hear his breath quicken and his chest tighten as my words plowed into his mind. It was harsh. But necessary. 

I practically pounced on the doors and took off running back to Ty's house. The streets seemed to narrow the faster I sprinted. I no longer heard Mark's heaving chest inflate behind me. That didn't bother me. He probably got in his rental. 

I didn't know why I had decided to run there. His house was all the way on the other side of town. Then I would have to go through the forest again. It didn't matter. None of it. I could take it. Running through the forest on my hands and feet, feeling the twigs snap under my weight was something I might start to enjoy it honestly. 

I didn't realize how fast I was running. Zoning out and doing things I normally would have to think about doing. Like crouching on the front step of Ty's house knocking on the front door. I stood up reluctantly and brushed off the dirt from my hands. 

I could hear shuffling behind the door. To try and understand what's going on, I put my ear against the door and strained to hear the voices on the other side. Their voice was getting louder. I stepped back and waited for the door to open. 

"MARK?! IS THAT YOU?!" Roxanne shouted. 

"UHH... NO IT'S ME! SEAN!" The door burst open and a relieved Roxanne stood in front of me. "Roxy, are you okay?" She nodded but then turned around to look at the couch. I heard a groan and then I swear I saw a motherfucking angel wing. Fuck. Ty. "I thought they were joking." 

"About the wings and stuff? Nah. That shit is all real. And sadly, my bitch won't stop moaning in pain. I feel so sorry for him. Is there anything you can do?" 

"Uh. Yeah. You could let me in or just keep hogging the door." She moved aside and ushered me in. 

"Ty just... stay there. Don't move. Please." She only got a groan in response. "Jack, do you want anything?" I shook my head. 

"I'm good." 

"Okay. Well, if you need anything-"

"I know where everything is. I almost spend as much time here as I do my own... house." Fuck. I'd forgotten about Signe. My house. My job. Everything. Fuck. "Roxanne, can I use your cell? I've got to call Signe and let her know I'm alright." 

"Oh. Yeah. Here..." She took the sleek device from her small jean pocket and handed it to me. I swiped the screen instinctively. Then entered my password. Needless to say, it didn't work obviously. 

"What's your password?" Her cheeks burned red. "Is it bad? Should I hand this back to you?" 

"No no no no. It's fine. The password is ********."

"How the fuck did you censor that? Where did you get a censor from?" 

"What do you mean? I said the password is ********." What the fuck? Is this happening to you guys? "Look. Just put a J. Then an A. Then C-K-A-B-O-Y. " oh. that's why she was embarrassed. great. 

I pressed the letters on the screen and went immediately to her contacts. Apparently she doesn't have Signe's number. Not a problem. I think. I punched in her phone number and heard the ring three times before she picked up. 

"Hello? Who's this?" 

"It's... Sean."

"What? I'm sorry? Did you say that you're Sean?"

"Yes, Signe. I did. Now listen-" 

"No, you listen, motherfucker. You're obviously oblivious to the fact that Sean is dead. He has been for almost a week now. You aren't funny. Now leave me alone." 

"Wait, Signe! I can prove it's me! I bought you a necklace for your birthday that had a sun with the words 'Set you ablaze' etched into the back. You didn't take it off for a month after." There was silence. I heard a sharp intake of breath before she answered. 

"Anyone who knows me on the Internet or in real life knows about that. Look, whoever you are. I'm going to call the authorities on you if you don't hang up and quit acting like you're Sean." I felt tears build up in my eyes. 

"Please, Signe. If you don't believe it's me, come to Ty's house. You know how to get here, right?" 

"Wait... Why're you at his house? Are you fucking stalking me?!" 

"Oh sweet Jesus, NO! I'm just using Roxanne's phone. I'm at Ty's house. Please come here." 

"Why should I?"

"Do you want me to put Roxanne on the phone?" 

"Please do." I handed the phone to her and watched her scrunch her nose in regret. 

"Hello, Singe? It's Roxanne. He's here... Yeah. That's what I said. Um... My bitch is fine. Don't worry about him. Just get here as soon as you can." She hung up and smiled at me. I felt my heart beat once again. Oh thank god she's coming. "You're going to have a lot of explaining to do. Just don't scare her away, Jack."

"I'll try. I mean, things didn't go so bad with Mark, Ty, and you. Hopefully she doesn't reject this me." She shouldn't have a reason to. Besides me looking a bit different and doing things that normal people can't, I think I'll be fine. 

"What are we going to do about Ty? We can't just have him sprawled out on the couch when she gets here. Can we?" I shook my head. That would not be a good introduction to this side of reality. But then again, I can't exactly say the same about myself either. Whatever. I don't have anything as big as being able to fly with huge bird's wings. "Alright then. Grab his arms and mind the wings, we don't want those to break unless you want to explain why a man has angel wings to a vet." 

"Understood. Don't break the wings." I scooped his arms up with mine and made sure to not step on any feathers while we brought him upstairs to his bedroom. "Got him?" 

"Yep. Keep going, yeh doof." I continued up the stairs careful not to trip on them. We reached his bedroom door when I heard a car pull up in the driveway. "What?"

"She's here." Her face scrunched more as she struggled to hold him steady. "Let's get to the bed. Mark'll answer the door." The journey through his mess of a room caused a few problems with trying to find the right footing. I almost tripped like six times. Roxanne seven. We plopped him on his bed careful not to mess with his wings. I sighed and headed back down the stairs trying to hurry. 

What I was greeted with was not what I would expect form my girlfriend.


	25. Closing the Door

"Wait, you're not Signe. Mark, I thought you were right behind me. Not... ten minutes behind." I mean, why did I expect Signe. We live like half an hour away. 

"Well, you run like the wind, Jack. How the hell am I supposed to catch up to you?" Fair point. 

"Look, I called Signe up and asked her to come over so that we could involve her in my... not-being-dead thing. Plus I kind of felt bad for forgetting about her like I had." 

"Ok. I don't need an explanation but ok. Um, I really appreciate you leaving me at the parking lot earlier. But since I don't hold grudges, I'm going to go to bed. I haven't gotten a decent sleep since Wednesday. So good afternoon-night-shit. Fuck." He's right I should've waited for him. It's not like Ty was going to kill Roxanne in the ten and a half minutes it took to freaking get here. Plus he was asleep or passed out from flying or something. 

"Sorry about that." I said quietly. He didn't hear me. Figures. I continued my way down the stairs holding tightly to the railing on instinct. I was still getting used to walking differently. Since my legs are kind of shorter making it easier to run on my hands and feet. "Mark, you can take the spare bedroom upstairs. It's right next to the bathroom. If you need anything, please ask." He nodded and headed past me up the stairs to the room. 

I held my breath until his door closed. My feet seemed to move on their own to the kitchen. I opened their liquor cabinet and took out one of their bottles of vodka. The burning liquid felt cool and refreshing running down my throat. Yep, definitely going to be an alcoholic after all. I listened to the different sounds rushing around the house. Any normal person would think it's complete silence. But I could hear Ty's breathing from a floor down. I could pinpoint exactly where Roxanne was in her room. I could hear Mark's racing heartbeat. Then out of nowhere, I could hear soft sobbing and a car door closing. 

Shit. What am I supposed to do? I abruptly placed the bottle on the counter and waited for the knock with an increasing heart-rate and sweat starting to drip from my head. This is going to be awkward. 

Three knocks sounded. I froze in place. "Jack?!" I gulped and stepped forward toward the door. On my way over, I quickly checked to make sure my ears were tucked under my hat and that my pants covered my legs. "Ty?! You in there?" Three more knocks. I swallowed once more and swung the door open. "Jack..." 

"Surprise?" Her face lit up and she stepped inside. She jumped on me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I did the same to her. I felt a warm feeling in my chest the more I breathed in the smell of her hair. She smelled like home. Then we pulled apart. I didn't want it to end. 

"Ho-how are you-" 

"Alive? It's honestly a long story, Signe. You may want to sit down." She nodded and sat on the couch behind me. I sat next to her in the other seat making sure I could hold her hands. She started to examine them. I watched her brow furrow as she turned them over and over again in hers. "So, tell me what you know about the incident."

"Well... I was told by your mom three days before your funeral that you had died in the Tocsaineach explosion two days prior to her visit. I didn't want to believe her, but since you hadn't returned any of my calls or to our apartment since Tuesday, I soon accepted that you had been taken away from this world. I cried until your funeral. By then I had wondered why they couldn't find your body. And now I know why. Ty, was probably the most shaken up at the funeral. At some point he actually left with Mark to go to the back of the church where I think they both broke down and had a sobbing fest. I could hear faint cries from the front row. I didn't see either of them again until the burial. And your mom was heartbroken when we were carrying your casket out through the crowd of fans gathered at the memorial outside the church. There were so many crying people. I wanted to hug every single one of them. But that's about how much I know." I could already feel tears surfacing. 

"Wow. I uh... wow. I didn't know that. Well, what happened to me was that I fell. But you already knew that. I don't really know how to explain it. My body didn't want to die. So it kept me alive by adapting rapidly to the environment that was killing me. That's why I look different. I don't why this happened. I don't think I was in control of what took place with my body. But apparently I was out for a good forty something hours so I'm guessing they pronounced me dead. Things kinda went haywire after I woke up under the pool of the engine waste stuff. I ended up destroying the rest of the pool making it impossible to finish the process so I just ran away. I don't really remember much until I ran straight through a window outside one of the cafes where Ty and Mark were talking over coffee. I was unstable and couldn't get control everything my body had given me. Like... these." I took one of my ears out from under my hat and rubbed in with my fingers. Her eyes widened a little bit. "And these." I showed her my teeth. They were bigger and longer then before. It was a little hard to talk without having a slight lisp. "I also, apparently can run on all fours now, so that's a bit new and weird." 

"Oh... Did it hurt?" 

"More than you could ever imagine. I actually considered drowning myself after the first thirty minutes. But that didn't happen because I could breathe while I was submerged in it." I could hear her heartbeat beat faster the more I talked. "Signe, you don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you or do anything that would make you think I would. You can calm down." I stared at her chest watching the blood rush around under her skin. 

"Can you hear... my heartbeat?" I nodded slowly. "What else is new, that I should know about?" 

"Well, I can't really eat or drink normal food and drinks anymore. The only thing that I've found that tastes okay is vodka. Also, something about my eyes. I can't remember what though. I think they turn green because my blood is green so the vessels in my eyeballs might be green. Again, I don't know why." She slowly nodded and stared down at my hand in hers. 

"They feel like they're on fire. Your skin in general feels like it's on fire. Do you still feel the cold?" I shook my head and pulled my hand back to observe the veins running under my bare arms. Another thing that this all took away from me was most of my body hair. I still have most of my hair on my head but no facial, chest, arm, or leg hair. And I haven't really checked any other areas because I didn't exactly have a chance yet. "Does Ty know?" 

"Yeah. He's just... asleep at the moment. Upstairs." 

"Why would he be asleep at this hour? It's like..." She pulled out her phone and checked the time. " four thirty-seven in the afternoon. I wouldn't think he'd be asleep until eleven or twelve." 

"Well, he's had quite a hard few days. What with me coming back from the grave apparently and the whole back issue thing." 

"Wh- what back issue thing?" 

"He... he has... back issues. Really bad back issues." She wasn't buying it. I wasn't exactly lying either. "He's just sleeping. He'll be fine. You don't have to worry." 

"Ok. Jack, I don't know what to take away from this. I don't know what I should do. Do you still want to date me? After all this?" 

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" 

"Well, it's just. If there are going to be people after you, don't you think they might come after me too? I don't want to be in danger everyday for the rest of my life unless I absolutely have to. And I'm sorry to say that I already lost you. You're still... dead to me." Tears were flowing down both our cheeks. I could tell this was hard for her. I knew it might be too much for her to handle. I should've just let things be. 

"Can I still call you?" I asked hearing my voice crack. 

"I don't mind. We can still talk. And do you think I should tell your family about this?" 

"...No. That's not fair to them. If they happen to find out, then I tell them. But for now, I'm going to leave them alone. It just wouldn't be right." She leaned over and kissed my cheek before placing her head against mine. 

"Okay. I think... I better go. I have a few people that wanted to meet about living in the apartment with me. Oh and before I forget, is there anything that you want to have before I start selling your things?" 

"Um... Do you think I could stop by some time to pick everything up?" She nodded and dried her cheeks before getting up and walking out the door. "Bye, Signe." 

"Slán, Séan." She waved and closed the door. And the one on our relationship. I get it. I really do. I shouldn't of just rushed into this talk as soon as I could. I should've waited until she had time to adjust to me not being there anymore. Or what I did today was better.


	26. Fear

"Humans aren't supposed to fly. But they do. They achieve the impossible everyday because that's all they know how to do. And once that impossibility becomes possible, more people do it. This world we live in can't stop us anymore. But once space travel becomes possible, that'll change everything. For all we know, we're the only ones in existence at the moment. But without science, we cannot accomplish such extraordinary things unless we find out what caused this... angel to appear." 

"Turn it off, Mark. Unless there's something not related to my bitch on the news, I don't want to hear it." I just sat there trying not to move. My body ached. My head was pounding. I couldn't really move anyway but just making sure I didn't should make it easier to listen. Mark shifted his position in the chair to glance back at me. I tried to smile at him but my cheeks weighed a ton. "Ty, do you need anything?" I closed my eyes and sighed out. I felt if I moved, my hands would shake or my legs would break. But nonetheless, I nodded and tried to speak.

"Wa- t-"

"Water?" I nodded again. I hated not being able to talk. Nothing was more frustrating than knowing no matter how hard you tried, the words in your head couldn't make it out of your mouth unless you coughed uncontrollably for a few minutes. After screaming my head off outside when I first made it back to my house really seemed like a bad idea now. Mostly because my voice was fucked and I had no other way of communicating without moving my hands. 

Roxanne returned to the room with a tall glass of water in her hand. I felt the thirst in my throat grow the more I started at the tasteless liquid. 

"Do you think you can drink it yourself?" I slightly shook my head in response. "Didn't think so. Alright... Here we go. Try to tilt your head back a little bit." I did as she asked. My throat burned. I would do anything for that glass of water. "Now swallow." I know how to drink water, you know. I'm not two. 

The cool refreshing liquid slid down my throat soothing the fire that had ignited in my stomach. "Thank-...y-ou." 

"You're welcome, Ty. If you need anything else please gargle or make some sort of sound to let me know." Noted. 

The television switched from channel to channel. All of them with breaking news about me. They all want to know who and what I am. I'm sure if they looked close enough at the video, they'd probably be able to make out my face. If that happens, I might not be able to fly away from my problems again. 

~•~•~•~•~•~

Jack helped massage my back a little while later. I'm not sure why he wanted to. I didn't really want to move anymore than what I had to. And saying that it hurt was an understatement. His hands were literally digging into the muscles surrounding the base of my wings. At one point, he was rubbing so hard that it accidentally triggered my wing into flapping. I didn't really know how to control them yet. Having an extension of your shoulder blades has got to be the weirdest feeling ever. And when it did flap, the pain in my back fucking spiked. 

"Sorry! SORRY! Shit! AHHH!" His expression made me smile through the pain. But I had to stop them somehow, so I rolled off the table onto the floor with a grunt. And Jack was laughing his ass off over in the corner. I started to laugh too. "Oh my fuck! HaHaHa! Hooooh my god. Ty, I'm sorry about that." 

"It's fi-ne." I smiled at him and sat up slowly. "At least I did-n't hurt yo-" 

"Ty, how the fuck can you hurt someone with those fucking humongous feathers anyway?" I don't know. I could probably figure out a way, though. Not that I would want to. 

"I don't know." I quickly stood up and stumbled out into the hallway. "Ja-ack? Do you think you c-ould help me-e get to my roo-m?" 

"Of course. Just hold onto my shoulder. If you feel like you're going to fall, grips tighter and tap my arm twice." I nodded and prepared to move. 

~•~•~•~•~

If you watched him for long enough, you could tell just how painful it was to move. Every single bone in his body must be feeling weak since his wings grew. The thing that I've noticed is that his body didn't create more bone for them. It used a small amount from everything else. I can only imagine how painful that must have been. Having your bones be smaller and less sturdy. The fact that moving makes your muscles flare and put pressure on your bones would make it that much more torturous. 

He took deep breaths as we began to step up the stairs. This is going to take a while to get used to. I could tell. 

"Jack, slow dow-n. I ca-n't move that fast." So I slowed my pace. 

~•~•~•~•~

"Ty! What're you doing up there?!" I shouted with my hands cupped around my mouth. 

After we had eaten lunch and whatnot, we went outside to get fresh air. What I expected was a little bit of rain. What I didn't expect was that rain to be feathers. And for Ty to be the one producing them. 

"Ty!" I called up to him. He was just flavoring thee in the air with his wings flapping every so often to keep himself up. What was he doing? "Ty!" And just like that, he dropped. 

I ran under him and tried to cushion his fall. It didn't really help that much. But that was all I could really do. I can't fly. I rolled him onto his back making sure his wings weren't damaged or anything. His eyes were closed. His breathing steady. His eyes seemed to be darting back and forth under his eyelids. Is that... REM sleep? Dreaming? 

"Ty. Come on, wake up!" I slapped his cheek a few times. He was unresponsive. Something came over me and I suddenly bit his ear. He bolted up with a gasp. "Ty, what were you doing?" He looked confused. He smelled like fear. He sounded terrified. 

"I-I... I don't know. I just heard my mother's voic-e and I... don't know. What... was I doing?" He was definitely shaken a bit. Whatever the fuck that was, it might happen again. For all I know, Ty might lose control and blindly do something he'd regret greatly. 

"Um... you were just... flying. Or rather floating really. You seriously didn't notice?" He shook his head and stared at me confused. I could've sworn I heard him swear under his breath. 

"This is the second time that happened. First time was at the hospital on my way here. And now this. Jack, I'm... I'm scared." I am too, Ty. 

I've always been scared.


	27. Surprise End

The news was covering nothing but my little accident. After a while I had had enough of them feeding lies instead of trying to find out the truth. I figured I should leave the house for a couple hours. To catch some air and hopefully resolve a few issues that seemed to confuse myself mostly. 

The other two didn't notice my absence from the couch. I suppose when they do, they're going to freak out. I grabbed a pen and the notebook by the front door and scrawled my note out. 

I carefully pulled the door open and stepped out into the concrete step. Wearing shoes would've helped block the icy cold that seemed to nibble at the bottoms of my bare feet. No matter. It wasn't like I needed to walk anyway. 

I took a deep breath and concentrated on flapping my wings. Honestly, it was almost torture since I wasn't used to their weight or power... yet. Thinking about "yet" feels a bit disconcerting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last of this fic. I'm sorry I didn't finish it. Feel free to write spinoffs or how you want this fic to end or whatever. I want this story to be finished by someone even though I never even made it to the good shit. If you want to know how it was going to go instead of making your own ending, you can comment asking. I don't mind. I know what it's like to have an author leave something unfinished. :/ anyway. I just wanted to let you know that I will not be completing this simply because I lost interest and wasn't motivated to write it.


End file.
